Learning to Love Again
by kassidanae
Summary: During Blaine's senior year of high school, a series of unrelated but ill-fated events cause his life to spiral out of control. Now 25, as a teacher and father, can Blaine learn to accept his unfortunate past and somehow love again?
1. Prologue

So this is a story that's been in my head for _months_ and has finally found it's way out of my head, off paper, off word documents, and on to the internet. Coincidentally, the very beginning might sound vaguely familiar

Things that do not follow canon because this was written before it happened on the show: Quinn's accident, Chandler, Cooper, and Finchel engagement

* * *

**Prologue**

"Blaine. Blaine! Calm down!" Tina exclaimed from across the hallway. The curly haired boy was currently standing in front of his locker staring at his digital clock inside, bouncing on his toes.

"Seriously. What's wrong with him?" Artie joked, rolling up beside the two.

"Kurt's coming back tonight. For Christmas vacation. And he gets to stay for three whole weeks before he has to go back to New York. And I haven't seen him in almost four months now. I have a right to not be calm. I have a right to be so excited that I'm bouncing off the walls. Literally." Blaine glanced at the bare wall next to his locker, as if contemplating if he really could bounce off it.

"Don't even think about it, Blaine." Mr. Schue's voice joked as he walked past the group of teens. "Can you three come a few minutes early to Glee club? I have a few things I want to run by you."

"Sure, Mr. Schue." Tina said before the bell rang. "See you then." The halls cleared quickly as kids frantically tried to get to their classes on time.

The rest of the day passed far too slowly for Blaine's liking. It felt like every teacher had made it their day's ambition to make their classes feel as long as possible. In every single class, Blaine had to listen to the teacher lecture on and on about nothing interesting while he counted down the minutes until he would see Kurt.

'_Meeting Kurt at the airport. See you at home around 9.' _Blaine texted his mom to remind her, before jumping in his car. Finn, Burt, Carole, Rachel's dads, and he were all going to meet Rachel and Kurt at the airport that afternoon. Their plane was supposed to get in around 4:00 so Blaine figured he'd have plenty of time to get to the airport since Glee club had gotten out early.

"Excited, Blaine?" a teasing voice came from behind him.

Blaine grinned. "Is there I reason I shouldn't be? I haven't seen him in _months_."

Tina couldn't hide her smile at his enthusiasm. "I suppose. I'll probably be like this next week when Mike comes home. It's so unfair that they get out for Christmas way before we do."

"That's college. One more year and we'll be there too." Blaine reminded her.

Tina groaned, "Don't remind me. My parents have me sending out applications to every school in the world ever."

Blaine tried to hide his laugh. "At least you don't have to be worried about getting in anywhere. You're brilliant, Tina. Now me, I have to be afraid that NYADA won't accept me."

"Oh shush, lover boy. You'll get in. Now get your ass to that airport and pick up your boyfriend." She commanded.

Blaine jokingly saluted her. "Yes, ma'am." They walked out to the parking lot together before heading their separate ways.

He got to the airport in record time—he may have sped a little while on the freeway—and went to wait inside the airport with Rachel's dads, Finn, Burt, and Carole. They had all been there for about fifteen minutes when Blaine saw Kurt and Rachel's plane land. Trying not to eagerly bounce up and down on his toes like a five year old (although Finn looked pretty close to bouncing, too), Blaine scanned the crowd of people getting off the plane.

Rachel and Kurt came bounding over. Rachel immediately kissed Finn before turning to her parents, while Kurt hugged his father, step-mother, and step-brother before turning to Blaine. But this didn't bother him. Blaine knew how much his family mattered to Kurt.

Kurt finally, _finally_, turned to Blaine, a soft smile on his face. Blaine returned it with his own puppy-dog grin, and the two hugged each other tightly. "I've missed you so much." Blaine whispered, failing at keeping the emotion out of his voice.

"I've missed you too." Kurt replied, clinging to Blaine tighter than before. Pulling away, Blaine saw tears on Kurt's face. Laughing at himself, Kurt hastily wiped them away. "So, what's on the agenda for the rest of the day, Mr. Anderson?"

Blaine grinned and shrugged. "Whatever you want to do. I was thinking about hitting up The Lima Bean or something, but I understand if you want to spend time with your family."

Kurt smiled, and Blaine didn't notice that it didn't _quite_ reach his eyes. "That sounds great. Maybe we can head back to my house afterward and watch a movie with my parents. And you better have your homework in the car, you have finals next week."

Blaine rolled his eyes as Kurt told his dad their plans for the afternoon. Burt nodded and hugged his son one more time before following Carole, Finn, and Rachel out of the airport. Blaine lightly took Kurt's hand and led him to his car, opening his door for him and everything.

Kurt laughed. "Thanks Blaine, but the New York subway didn't make me _completely_ forget how to open a car door."

Blaine shrugged and laughed. "You never know, Kurt. What if you opened it with too much power and the car door hit you in the face and knocked you out. Would you really want to risk spending the first day of winter break in the hospital because you were knocked out by a door that you opened too roughly because you got so used to the automatic doors on the subway?"

Kurt laughed. Blaine was so ridiculous sometimes. "I suppose not." They were almost out of the airport parking lot now, and Blaine turned onto the freeway towards the coffee shop. They spent two hours there before heading back to Kurt's house to watch _Moulin Rouge!_ and _Funny Girl_.

The rest of the week had Kurt and Blaine spending time together at different places. It had taken a while for them to get back into the swing of their relationship with being physically together, but after a week or so Blaine thought they had that back.

Emphasis on Blaine _thought_.

Blaine had been out for his winter break for about a week, and he was out on a date with Kurt on Christmas Eve. They had dressed up and gone to a fancy restaurant before going on a walk in a nearby park. Kurt led him to a bench and they both sat down.

"What's wrong?" Blaine asked softly. Kurt was crying.

"I… I just can't lie to you anymore. It's Christmas Eve and tomorrow's Christmas and I just can't stand lying to you, especially on Christmas." Blaine, concerned, took Kurt's hand which was quickly yanked away. "You don't understand Blaine!"

"Then tell me." Blaine whispered. "It's okay Kurt, just tell me."

Kurt stood up and started pacing before turning to look at Blaine. "No, you won't understand! I can't _just tell you_! Because there's a guy at NYADA, and he's really sweet and nice and he's in all of my classes and when he asks me to coffee or dinner, I say yes. I lie to myself and tell myself that I'm going with him as friends, but I know that that's not it for him. And then I tell myself that it's just a fling, that it's just a fucking crush, and that I'm still in love with you. But I'm not Blaine, I'm fucking not! This stupid long distance thing just isn't working for me, and I hate it because I still care about you, and I don't want to hurt you, but I can't just ignore this like I have been all school year." Kurt stopped talking and was still breathing hard from his rant.

Blaine bit his lower lip and stood up. "Okay. I'm glad you told me." And he started walking away.

Kurt grabbed Blaine's hand. "Are you mad at me?"

Blaine turned and Kurt could see the hurt in his eyes. "What's his name?"

Kurt looked at his feet. "Zack."

"Have you kissed him?" Blaine asked.

Kurt's eyes filled with tears again. "Yes. Twice."

Blaine turned before Kurt could see him cry. "Okay." He tried to say calmly, but his voice obviously broke at the end.

"Blaine… I'm sorry." Kurt whispered.

"Of course you are." Blaine scoffed as he walked away.

Kurt stood there in horror for a minute before running to catch up with his now ex boyfriend. "Wait, Blaine, we're four miles from your house. Let me drive you."

"I could use the walk." Blaine said, walking faster away.

And that was the beginning to the worst year of Blaine's life.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

_*Seven Years Later, 2020*_

Blaine groaned and rested his forehead on his arm, which was sitting on his kitchen table. This was ridiculous. It wasn't possible to get literally 0% on a multiple choice test without studying. Impossible. Sighing, he wrote the score, or lack thereof, on top of the paper along with a note asking his student to see him after class.

He glanced at the clock to see that is was almost 2am. Groaning, knowing he would have to teach a bunch of five year olds the alphabet, or how to spell their name, or how to count to one hundred in six hours, he put the stack of tests and lesson plans away. He was getting up to go to bed when he felt someone pull on his pant leg.

"Hey Rosie." He smiled, scooping his four year old daughter into his arms.

"Daddy, I had a bad dream." She whispered.

"Oh Rose, I'm sorry." He kissed her forehead. "Do you want to sleep in my room tonight?"

The little girl nodded and let herself drift off back to sleep in the safety of her daddy's arms. Blaine put his daughter in his bed and went into his bathroom to change for bed. Blaine looked at his already asleep daughter, and the two pictures of last year's kindergarten class and last year's history trip to Philadelphia and smiled to himself. As much as he internally complained about being a single dad and griped about his job, he loved it all with everything he had.

* * *

_*Two months before*_

"Rachel Berry, why on earth would you want to move back to Lima?" Kurt demanded. Finn was hiding in their living room, trying to stay away from the fighting duo in their shared apartment. "You've had so much success with your smaller scale Broadway plays, and I can feel that you're going to get the next Elphaba in Wicked, understudy at the very least; you nailed your audition."

"I know." Rachel said, tearing up, "that's what I can't let happen. I have to move back to Lima to be closer to my dads and closer to your parents, and you know Finn doesn't feel at home in a big city, and we've done eight years here."

"Why can't you let that happen, Rach?" Kurt said, "being on that Wicked stage, especially after Nationals our junior year, it's all you've ever wanted. How can you just give that up?"

"Kurt… I'm pregnant. Four months now. I can't do all of that, all the dancing and the hours and the everything; I just can't do it. I can't get it just to turn it down after two or so months."

Kurt was speechless.

"But don't think you need to come back with us, Kurt. You're so close to getting signed with that designing company, and they want to give you your own clothing line and everything; Kurt you need to stay." Rachel insisted.

"You know I can't stay in New York without you. It just wouldn't be the same. And I don't have the money." Kurt sighed. "And besides, I was already offered the job and they said that I don't even have to be living in New York. It's more of an online email thing than an in-office thing, if I want it to be at least."

Rachel gasped. "Don't you usually have to be really good and really experienced for that?"

Kurt shrugged. "I told them from the beginning that I might have to move back to Ohio." He admitted. "I'm pretty sure nothing is going to happen with my dad, but he's not getting any younger and I wanted to make sure they knew he was first for me. And they told me that it wouldn't be a problem."

"That's surreal, Kurt! I can't believe… Wow. Does this mean you're moving back to Lima with us?" she asked hopefully.

Kurt shrugged. "Well I can't stay here alone. Besides, I miss my dad. Especially now that he's done with his senate term in DC, he's back in Lima. Maybe I'll find an apartment there too."

"Cost of living's lower." Rachel mused. "And Finn and I have enough money stored up for while, plus my dads will insist I live close so they can fawn over their grandchild. Your and Finn's parents too, I'm sure."

"Yeah, I'm sure." Kurt took a deep breath. "Wow. We're moving back to Lima. The one place we wanted to get away from."

"But maybe it'll be good for us, even if it's only for a year or two. It'll be good for our bodies to slow down, after eight years in fast-paced New York."

Finn peeked his head in the kitchen where the two were talking. "Are you two done fighting yet?" he asked.

"We are. And in a month or two, we're all moving back to Lima." Rachel grinned.

Kurt tried to make the smile reach his eyes. He really did.

* * *

_*Two months later*_

Kurt unpacked the last box and set the picture of him and Rachel at her first Broadway show on his bookshelf. "All done." He muttered to himself. He'd only been back in Lima for a week and he was already feeling trapped. "It's only temporary. Just until I get enough money to rent an apartment by myself in New York."

Taking a deep, calming breath, Kurt called his dad. "Hey dad, need some help at the shop?"

Burt laughed. "You only want to help at the shop when you need something."

"Honestly? I have three sketches due Thursday and some of your clients ugly wardrobes inspire me." Kurt replied in a snarky voice.

Burt laughed. "Come on in. There are a few things you could help me with."

Kurt sighed. "Thanks so much, dad."

"I might not be in right when you get here though. I have to run to the store and pick something up for lunch. But I'll see you when I get in." Burt explained.

"Alright. Love you dad. I'll see you soon." Kurt hung up the phone and started getting all his stuff. He had a feeling today wasn't going to be completely terrible after all.

* * *

On Fridays the small private school Blaine taught at only went until noon, which meant that he didn't have any of his history classes, just kindergarten. This also meant that he and Rose got to spend the whole afternoon together. "Hey Rosie," he said to her, "we need to stop by the grocery store on the way home, okay? We're low on a few things."

"Okay daddy." She said cheerfully. "Can I get a snack though? I'm awfully hungry." She asked.

Blaine laughed. "Sure, honey. We'll buy you a snack." She clapped her hands gleefully before returning to her coloring.

All of a sudden, black smoke started coming out of the front of their car and the accelerator quit working. "Shit." Blaine muttered, just quiet enough so the four year old in the back seat didn't hear. Blaine pulled over and turned on the emergency flashers. He pulled out his cell phone to find it dead.

"Okay Rosie." He said, "We're only about a half mile from the grocery store, do you want to walk and see if we can use their phone? I have your stroller in the back."

"What's wrong with the car, daddy?" she asked.

"I'm not sure. I'll call a mechanic and they'll figure it out for us." Blaine was so engrossed in getting his little girl out of her car seat and into her stroller that he didn't hear a car pull up behind them.

"Car troubles?" a man's voice asked.

Blaine didn't need to look twice to know that voice. "Mr. Hummel?" he asked, turning.

"Blaine!" Burt sounded very surprised to see him. "What are you doing here?"

"I, uh, I live here now. I work at East Lima Academy. It's a private school." Blaine explained.

"Do you know what's wrong with your car?" Burt asked.

Blaine laughed ironically. "I don't know the first thing about cars these days. I'm pretty sure I couldn't even change a tire anymore. Kinda blocked it from my memory after my dad."

"I heard about that." Burt said. "I'm sorry."

"Thanks, but it was a long time ago." Blaine shrugged.

"Not long enough." Blaine couldn't stand the sympathetic look in the older man's eyes. It made him uncomfortable. "Do you mind if I take it back to my shop to look at it? No charge." Burt offered.

"Oh, I couldn't ask you to do that. Sure, you can take it back, but I'll pay you." Blaine blushed.

"You're not asking, I'm offering. Finn, Rachel, and Kurt get their cars fixed for free, why not you too?" Burt shrugged, pulling out his phone and asking for one of his employees to bring a tow truck out to pick up Blaine's car.

"But I'm not your son." Blaine said, willing himself not to flinch every time he heard Kurt's name.

"I meant what I said when you were in high school. You're still as good as my son." Burt shrugged talked to someone at his shop, and ended the call. "So kid, I was on my way to the grocery store. If you don't mind making a stop, I can drive you back to the shop."

"Actually, that sounds great. I need to get Rose something for lunch anyway." Blaine said, motioning to the girl in the stroller.

He was surprised when Burt didn't ask any questions. "Help me get the car seat in my truck?" Blaine nodded and the two men loaded the pink princess themed car seat into the other car. Then Blaine climbed in the passenger seat with Burt in the driver's seat.

"I really appreciate this, Mr. Hummel. A lot." Blaine looked at his folded hands.

"She looks like you, your girl." Burt motioned to the back seat with his head.

Blaine laughed. "Yeah, I get that a lot. It's the black curly hair. Which is funny because Rose is actually adopted."

"Yeah?" Burt asked.

"Yup. I'm still gay, Mr. Hummel." Blaine joked.

"Enough with this 'Mr. Hummel' stuff." Burt said. "It took me a whole year to get you to call me Burt when you were a teenager; we're not repeating that again."

Blaine grinned. "Alright. I'll try to remember that, Burt."

The two boys and the little girl stopped at the grocery store and bought lunch before driving back to the shop. The walked in to see Blaine's car already in place to be looked at. "Thanks again. I appreciate it."

Burt grunted. "It's nothing, kid. Just want to help out."

Kurt heard his dad come in and walked out, sketch pad in hand. "Goodness, dad, did you eat out the whole store? What took you so lo—?" Kurt looked up from the paper in his hand.

"Blaine?"

* * *

Okay, wow. I just realized how short this is. Unfortunately, the first couple chapters are about this length but a little bit later they'll get a little longer and pretty much stay this way. I try to keep them 6-9 pages in a word file, which seriously shortens once on the internet. :P

Anyway. For all you tumblr people, I'm "ily morethanorequal 2 kurtnblaine" (but without the spaces because ff is being super ridiculous right now) and all you twitter people, my twitter name is kassidanae. Soooo hit me up, I'd love to hear from you! :) Also, thanks to my beta editor people Carrie and Itzel because you're seriously the best people to ever exist. :D


	3. Chapter 2

Aaaah yes. I stressed forever over how I would present Rose. She's a very, _very_ grown up little girl-especially for being only four. And I realize she's fairly unrealistic, but I think that's how she needs to be. She's so_ naturally_ loving and nurturing and caring that, having the father she does who had to deal with the things he had to deal with, grew up a little quicker than she should have, but she still somehow manages to be a little girl. Anyway, here's chapter two!

* * *

**Chapter 2**

"Kurt." Blaine said in disbelief. He knew this was Kurt's father's shop, but he never in a million years expected Kurt to be here. "What are you doing out of New York?"

"I'm staying in Lima for a little bit. Saving up some money." Kurt explained. "New York has a really high cost of living."

Blaine tried to smile. "I'd bet."

"What about you?" Kurt asked. "What have you been up to? I haven't talked to you since… Since…"

"Christmas Eve, 2012. Yeah. I know." Blaine said bitterly. "Long story short, I disappeared to California for four years and now I'm back in Lima working as a kindergarten and high school history teacher, this is my daughter Rose, no I didn't have a straight streak in college, she's adopted." Blaine wondered to himself how many times he would have to tell this story now that his friends from high school had found him again.

'_Although you're not that hard to find when you come running back to the place you knew them._' Blaine thought. Kurt looked a little stunned from taking in all that information at once.

"So you're back in Lima for good?" Kurt asked hesitantly.

"For a while, yeah." Blaine shrugged. "I figured it's better than moving back to LA where Rose will have to grow up surrounded by Hollywood and smog."

Burt, somewhere in the conversation, had left to look at Blaine's car, and Blaine tried to not let Kurt's presence rile him up, and in turn make Rose uncomfortable. But it was really hard to when the man you never really got over shows up seven years later out of the blue. '_Or when you show up._' Blaine corrected himself. '_This is _his _dad's shop, after all._'

Burt walked over to the two boys. "Well Blaine, I'd try to explain to you what's wrong but you said you don't know the first thing about cars."

Blaine smiled to himself. "True."

"So I'll just tell you it's an easy fix and you should be able to come get it tomorrow." Burt told him.

"How much do you think it will cost?" Blaine asked.

"I told you kid. It's on me. Take it as a really late college graduation present." Burt shrugged.

Blaine laughed. "Are you sure though? I wouldn't want to do that to you."

"You're not doing anything to me." They both paused. "Do you have another car back at your place?" Burt asked.

Blaine sighed. "No. But I can take a bus here tomorrow to pick it up. Just tell me what time."

"No. Blaine, I'll take you home tonight, and I can pick you up tomorrow to get you the car. Unless you have plans tonight or tomorrow."

"Well I do have a date tonight." Blaine said. "But that's with Rosie and I'm sure she won't mind making it a Netflix night."

Kurt smiled affectionately at the little girl before glancing back up at Blaine. "So do you want a ride?"

Blaine nodded. "Sure. Just let me grab her car seat."

The drive back to Blaine's house was silent, save the few muttered directions Blaine gave Kurt. Rose, the usual chatterbox, was late for her nap and silently asleep in the back seat.

Once in Blaine's driveway, Kurt killed the engine and started down at his hands, trying to find the right words. "That…" he began, before reevaluating his premeditated speech. "I'm so, so sorry about that Christmas Eve." Kurt said at last, glancing at Blaine.

"What," Blaine half asked, "That you broke up with me?" Kurt did a nod-shrug kind of move. "I'm not." Blaine shrugged.

"You were obviously upset about it then." Kurt pointed out. "And uncomfortable to see me, back at the shop."

"It was more the 'I've kissed him a few times' than the 'this isn't working for me' that upset me." Blaine said coldly.

Kurt opened his mouth to speak, probably to apologize again, but Blaine cut him off. "Save it. Thanks for the ride home, I'm sure your dad will tell you when my car's done tomorrow. But I really _can_ take a bus."

Kurt was stunned at Blaine's harsh attitude, but wasn't going to go back on his promise. Well, not this one. "I'll be here when my dad calls me."

Blaine smiled apologetically. He was annoyed by hormonal teenagers everyday—why was he acting like one? "Thanks again for the ride. Do you mind if I leave Rose's car seat in here?"

Kurt smiled sympathetically, knowing Blaine was probably just having a rough day. "Of course. I'll see you tomorrow?" He cursed at himself internally for feeling excited about seeing Blaine again.

"Yeah." Blaine smiled. "I'll see you." He took turned, with his sleeping daughter in his arms, and started back towards his house.

"Wait!" Kurt called out. Blaine turned and Kurt continued. "Would you like to have coffee with me tomorrow, before we pick up at your car? At the Lima Bean, maybe? For old time sake?"

Kurt didn't miss the look of hesitation cross Blaine's face before the obviously staged smile showed up. "Sure. That would be fun."

Kurt held back his sigh of relief. Maybe living in this town wouldn't be _completely_ terrible after all—at least not if Blaine could forgive him and become his friend again. "Great. I'll see you tomorrow. I'll text you about an hour before I come pick you up."

Blaine smiled, and this time it was sincere. After rattling off his phone number to Kurt he said, "Alright, I'll see you tomorrow."

Blaine was pacing the entry way in his house. Rose was sitting on a stool, hair up in pigtails, watching him. "Daddy, who was that man? Why does he make you uncomfortable? How do you know him?"

Blaine sighed. His daughter was one perceptive little girl. "We were best best friends when we were teenagers, like you and Riley." Blaine explained carefully. "But he's a year older than me and after he went to college we got in a really big fight, and didn't talk to each other for seven years. We just saw each other for the first time yesterday."

Rose nodded, as if she completely understood the emotional turmoil her father was going through. "I get that you were mad and in a fight, but seven years is an awfully long time so be so mad, daddy. Riley and I can't even stop talking for a few minutes without being really sad." She paused for a second, as if having a realization. "Is that why you're sad sometimes, daddy? Because you lost your best friend?"

Blaine smiled weakly at her. "You are way to smart for a four year old. Where did you learn all of this?"

"I'm perceptive." She said. "But I don't know what that means. Miss Carrie tells me that, but I don't know what it means."

Blaine laughed as the two heard a knock at the door. Rose ran to the door and flung it open. "Hi Mr. Kurt!"

"Hi, Rose!" he replied, equally as enthusiastic. "Are you and your dad ready for coffee?"

Rose stuck her tongue out. "Blegh. No. I hate coffee. It tastes all gross and stuff. But I'm ready for a smoothie!"

Blaine laughed and helped her into her car seat. The three silently drove to the Lima Bean, both Kurt _and _Blaine regretting the decision to go to coffee together. They _knew_ it was going to be awkward, so why did they try?

They soon arrived at their old hangout, and got out of the car. Rose grabbed Blaine and Kurt's hands and quickly grabbed them inside. Blaine ordered first. "Can I have a medium drip and a small strawberry smoothie?" he asked.

The woman behind the counter smiled. "Will that be it?"

Kurt spoke up. "No, I'll have a medium mocha." The woman told them the price and Kurt handed her the correct amount of bills.

"Kurt, I can't let you do that." Blaine said.

"No, I insist." Kurt smiled. "I asked you here. Plus, I kind of owe you a lot after what I put you through."

Blaine bit his lower lip as the three found a place to sit down. "If we're keeping score, the world owes me a lot more than you do."

Kurt looked at him, confused. "What do you mean by that?"

Blaine shrugged. "Oh, nothing much. I guess… I guess after what happened in high school, and then later in college, it's safe to say the world doesn't want me to be happy."

Kurt knew the high school comment was about him, but was curious about the other. "What happened in college?"


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Blaine sighed. If Kurt didn't mention it, he _obviously_ didn't know what had happened to Blaine after they'd broken up. "I guess it all started when I moved to California. I had decided to go to a college near LA. I was in therapy for months, but met this girl there. We had different therapists, but we were always in the waiting room at the same time. It took us a few weeks to get the courage to talk to each other, and then we realized that we not only went to the same college, but were in the exact same classes."

Kurt nodded, motioning Blaine to go on. "With her, there was this huge mess where her grandmother and birth mother both died of breast cancer and her father committed suicide when she was a baby, so she had been put up for adoption. When she was nineteen, she found something out about her genetics that her parents didn't have, and found out that they never told her she was adopted. She was really messed up about it."

Blaine shrugged. "And then after that, we kind of became friends. Both of us had insane trust issues, and neither of us wanted any friends. We were content to keep out noses down and take our classes. But out of the blue, we became best friends."

Blaine took a deep breath, and Kurt knew the bad part was coming. "At very beginning of our junior year of college, after spending the whole summer together, we were coming home from a movie and she wanted to stop by this store on the way.

"I had a test the next morning, so she told me to go back to the dorm and study. Sometimes I wish I hadn't listened to her, but other times, when I look at Rose, I'm okay with leaving her." Both boys glanced at Rose, who had dosed off while leaning on her dad's arm.

Blaine continued, "The next day she showed up at school like normal, but she seemed really upset. It took her about a week, but she eventually told me that she had been raped, but she didn't want an investigation and she didn't want to press charges. Apparently it had been someone we knew at the college, but she wouldn't tell me who, because she knew I'd get really upset and blow up at them or something.

"Three months later, after Christmas break, she told me she was pregnant. I knew she didn't have a boyfriend, and she knew she hadn't slept with anyone, so we _knew_ it was her rapist, whoever he was. I asked her what she wanted to do about it, and she said she wanted to keep her baby. And, of course, trying to be supportive, I told her I would try to help her in every way I could.

"At the beginning of our senior year, in October, she gave birth to Rose. When the hospital asked about the father, we told them she was mine, even though we both _knew_ she wasn't. But we were both going to raise her. We, of course, were going to tell Rose when she was old enough that I wasn't her biological father, and I wasn't about to walk back in the closet and marry Jayden to make us a 'real' family, but Jay wanted me to be Rosie's father, legally, from the beginning.

"When Rose was three months old, they went up to Northern California for Christmas, where her parents lived so they could see their grandchild. Jay had mostly gotten over her anger at them, but it was the first time she'd gone home since she left for college. On her drive back to LA, she got in a nasty accident. Rose had scratches and bruises, but she wasn't hurt too bad. Jayden, on the other hand, ended up in a coma for two months before she died. Because legally I was Rose's father, I ended up having full custody of her." Blaine finished.

Kurt sighed deeply, trying to retain this information. "So when you said she was adopted…" Kurt trailed off.

"Easier to explain than that." Blaine looked down at his napkin, which he hadn't realized he'd shredded into a million tiny pieces. "We still head out to Vallejo every once in a while to see Jay's parents because they're still Rose's grandparents, but they really don't like me." Blaine laughed. "They hate thinking that a gay guy knocked up their daughter, but they _love_ Rose. She looks almost identical to Jayden."

Kurt forced a smile.'_But god, why had Blaine been forced to go through so much?_' he thought. To save him from replying, Kurt's phone buzzed. He checked and read the message from his father. "Your car's ready."

Blaine nudged Rose awake and the three headed out to the car. The drive to the shop was still quiet, but definitely more comfortable. Blaine thanked Kurt for the ride and the coffee, while thanking Burt for fixing his car. And then he and Rose headed home.

* * *

Blaine thought it was a little weird that he and Kurt didn't cross paths for the rest of November. After all, Kurt had only been back in Lima for a few days when they found each other this time. But Blaine chalked it off to Kurt being busy with his job, and he with his job—and his daughter.

The first week, Blaine had actually expected a call of text from Kurt. Blaine _had_ given him his number, right? Didn't giving someone your number mean you wanted them to contact you? Blaine sighed. Maybe not. He was really out of touch with this relationship thing.

Sure, he went to staff meetings. He hung out with some of his colleagues on the weekends. He talked to his students and his students' parents. But none of them he could really call his 'friends,' he supposed. Except Carrie, Rose's babysitter. But that was different, because Carrie was so easy to like—he was pretty sure _everyone_ that met her considered Carrie their friend.

The second week, he thought that maybe Kurt was thinking the same thing. Maybe, since Kurt had given Blaine his number in turn, _he_ was supposed to call _Kurt_. But then again, if Kurt wanted to talk to Blaine, wouldn't he have given _some_ indication that he wanted to?

Maybe he had, but Blaine hadn't read it? And had Blaine given Kurt a hint that he wanted to keep contact? And _did_ Blaine want to keep contact and be Kurt's friend, or was he just trying to make sure he was completely over Kurt, or was he actually trying to fall in love with him again?

Blaine shook away the thought. There was no way that he could let Kurt back in. Hell, there was no way he could let _anybody_ back in. Not after everything he had gone through. No, he'd realized that the only person he could rely on was himself. Which was unfortunate, because often enough, Blaine found that he wasn't enough.

By the third week, Blaine had decided that he and Kurt had met again for one reason and one reason only. It was a lot like Elphaba in Wicked—the book. She _needed_ to find Sarima to apologize before she could continue on with her life. But unlike Sarima, Blaine knew he needed to forgive Kurt.

And now that Kurt had apologized and Blaine had forgiven him, their purpose to each other was over, and they both needed to move on with their lives. And that was it. So Blaine accepted that, and vowed to forget about Kurt, even if he hadn't been successful in that at all the past seven years.

And in the fourth week, Blaine had realized that forgetting Kurt wasn't going to happen. Ever. Unless he developed long term memory loss, or dementia, or Alzheimer's, or whatever. Blaine sighed and stared down the road. The high school had been let out at lunch since their winter dance was that evening, which meant that he had the whole afternoon off.

Rose was at Riley's birthday party, and Blaine had opted out of going. Riley's parents could take care of Rose, he knew that. But now he was regretting not going. Because his job, Rose, and her mother before her, had been his only distractions against his life. And Kurt coming back brought everything back even worse than it usually did when Rose wasn't around.

Blaine sighed again as he subconsciously turned down that familiar road. Seeing all the cars in the parking lot, and the red and white sign pulled Blaine out of his thoughts. In the three years of living back in Lima, Blaine had avoided McKinley High School like the plague. Yeah, when his Glee kids went up against theirs, he went to the competitions. And when his school's sports teams went up against theirs he went to the games. But he had made sure that he never had to go onto the school grounds again.

Of course, he was just about to break his promise to himself. There was no way he could turn back now. He parked in visitor parking and walked in. Class was in session, but that hadn't stopped a couple kids from hanging out in the hallways. They snickered when they saw him, and Blaine figured it was probably because he looked like a substitute teacher or something.

Making his way to the trophy case, he peered in to see the trophies the Glee club had brought in the two years he had been there. He smiled as he remembered all the memories and songs, and dramas and hardships. He was so lost in his memories that he didn't hear the bell ring.

God, being here made him feel seventeen again, carefree, happy, just another junior boy in high school with no worries except when his next test was, what he was going to sing for that week's Glee lesson, and what he and his boyfriend were going to do after school that day.

"Blaine? Blaine Anderson?"

Blaine turned and his face paled before turning bright red. "Mr. Schuester." Blaine reached out his hand and shook his former teacher's. This was crazy. He had avoided his past to well in the several years he had tried to run away from it, and then suddenly it was coming back to bite him. All in one short month.

"What are… You have no idea how worried all of us were about you, Blaine." Mr. Schue said after a long pause.

Blaine looked at his feet. "Yeah, I know. I'd had a tough year, you know? And I wanted a clean break."

Mr. Schue nodded in understanding. "Where did you go? And what are you doing back in Lima?"

Blaine sighed. How many times was he going to have to answer these questions? "I went to college in California. And then moved back here about three years ago. I got a job over at East Lima Academy."

Mr. Schue's eyes brightened in recognition. "Our Glee club had competed against them."

Blaine smiled and looked at his feet. "I know. I'm one of their Glee club directors."

Mr. Schue looked confused. "But I've never seen you there before?"

"That's because I mostly just practice with them. I go to competitions, but usually their other director is with them in the green room, back stage, and such. I'm usually in the audience." Blaine explained. Then the two of them realized that they were talking in a hallway full of students trying to make their way to their classes.

"We can go back to my office, if you want to talk more. But if you're in a hurry… I don't have a class next period." Mr. Schue offered.

Blaine smiled. Now he realized why he came. He was supposed to be the adult in all of his situations—with his students and his daughter, but being an adult wasn't easy, especially not when he'd never gotten the transition period. He was just thrown into adulthood without his permission. Besides, Mr. Schue was really in the same position as he, much of the time, since they taught the same things in the same town. And Blaine really needed someone to talk to. "That'd be great."

The two headed back to Mr. Schue's office and sat down. Blaine, after a short hesitation, told Mr. Schue everything. About how what had happened in high school had affected him, leaving everyone and everything and going to college alone, and meeting Jayden, and about Rose's story, and why he moved back to Lima, and his job, and being a single parent, and Kurt coming back, and just _everything_.

Mr. Schue sat and listened to Blaine patiently, commenting when necessary and staying silent the rest of the time. By the end of Blaine's story, both men were crying.

"And most days I wake up feeling like I'm still a teenager. Yes, I'm wearing adult clothes, and working an adult job, and doing adult things like raising a child. But _I'm_ still a child. I'm still eighteen—and frozen at my high school graduation, inside." Blaine finished

Mr. Schuester was at a loss for words. He had known, as soon as he found out, that life was going to be hard for Blaine then on out, but had he known that Blaine was going to run away, he would've tried to stop him.

"I know there's not really much to say." Blaine admitted. "It's all in the past; it's over and it's done and I can't change it. And I'm glad with many of the results. I'm happy with Rose, and I'm thrilled that I'm able to help teenagers and little kids with my job. But sometimes, all I want to know is why I had to go through everything to get all this? High school didn't have to happen like it did, and I didn't have to lose my best friend and family for me to want to become a teacher. My best friend didn't have to get raped and then die for me to have a daughter."

Mr. Schue stayed silent until he was sure Blaine was done. And even then, he wasn't sure he knew what to say. "I admire and respect you so much, Blaine. You've gone through more than any one person should have to go through in a life time, let alone twenty five years. And you're still here, you're still sane, you're still helping people, and you're still going on with your life." Mr. Schue paused and looked up at Blaine, whose eyes were still filled with tears. "You're an amazing man, Blaine, and you're the man that every boy, including myself, wants to become."

"But," Blaine's voice broke and the sobs came out. Mr. Schue put his arm around his former student's shoulders. "why did everything have to happen the way it did for me to become who I am?"

Mr. Schue couldn't answer that. He shook his head as his own tears fell and sighed. "I don't know Blaine."

* * *

And somewhere, a few miles away, an anxious Kurt Hummel was staring at his cell phone, just like he had been for the past month.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**Blaine's hell year—part 1**

December 25, 2012

Blaine wiped his eyes as he walked up his driveway to his front yard. It was past midnight, and he had no idea why his parents hadn't called him. He told them he'd be home around ten thirty, but I guess they'd assumed since he was with Kurt…

_Kurt_. That brought on a fresh wave of tears. How could he do this to him? It wasn't fair. Maybe break ups weren't the end of the world, but it sure as hell felt like the end of his. All of his plans, for the rest of his life, were centered around Kurt_. _And now everything had been ruined.

Blaine opened his front door as quietly as he could and hurried up to his bedroom. He collapsed on his bed and dissolved into more tears. This bed—right here, over a year ago, is where he had given Kurt his everything, and he'd been sure then that it'd be forever. That he and Kurt would be forever.

Blaine got up, stormed over to his closet, and threw the Christmas present he had so meticulously wrapped for Kurt as hard against the wall as he could, before collapsing into sobs on his bed once again.

There was a knock on his door soon after. Blaine hastily wiped his eyes and nose on his comforter as the door to his room was turned. "Blaine?" a small voice asked. Blaine looked over to see his baby sister, Abby, peeking around the corner.

"Hey sweetie, what's up?" Blaine asked.

"I heard you got home, and I heard you crying. What's wrong, Blainey? Did something happen when you were with Kurt?" she asked.

Blaine motioned for the seven year old to come sit on his bed with him. "Yeah, something happened with me and Kurt."

"What's that?" Abby asked.

Blaine smiled sadly. "We got in a big fight, and we broke up."

Abby studied her brother's comforter for a moment before turning to look at him. "When my friends and I get in a really big fight, we usually try to make up soon, because being mad isn't fun."

Blaine put his arm around his little sister and the two of them laid back onto his pillows. "Yeah, but this was a bad fight. He… He did something that I'm not okay with."

Abby looked at her brother. "So it was like the fight mommy, daddy, and Cooper got into, before he left?"

Blaine nodded. "Yeah, kinda like that."

Abby widened her eyes in horror. "But no one has talked to Cooper in over three years! Are you and Kurt going to go over three years not talking to each other?"

Blaine shrugged and let his sister nestle into his side. "I don't know, Abby. Probably."

"Well what did he do?" she asked, "did he cheat on you?"

Blaine's jaw dropped. "How do you know what that is?"

"Blaine." She said, looking at him judgingly, "I may only be seven, but I'm not dumb."

Blaine rolled his eyes at her. "No, you're not. And yeah, he did."

Abby took a moment to contemplate this. "So he held hands with another boy?"

Blaine nodded. "Among other things."

"Well do you love him?" she asked.

"Yeah, I do." Blaine admitted, trying not to start crying again.

"Then it will all be okay. I know it."

February, 2013

"_I… I just can't lie to you anymore. It's Christmas Eve and tomorrow's Christmas and I just can't stand lying to you, especially on Christmas." Blaine, concerned, took Kurt's hand which was quickly yanked away. "You don't understand Blaine!"_

"_Then tell me." Blaine whispered. "It's okay Kurt, just tell me."_

_Kurt stood up and started pacing before turning to look at Blaine. "No, you won't understand! I can't just tell you! Because there's a guy at NYADA, and he's really sweet and nice and he's in all of my classes and when he asks me to coffee or dinner, I say yes. I lie to myself and tell myself that I'm going with him as friends, but I know that that's not it for him. And then I tell myself that it's just a fling, that it's just a fucking crush, and that I'm still in love with you. But I'm not Blaine, I'm fucking not! This stupid long distance thing just isn't working for me, and I hate that it's not because I still care about you, and I don't want to hurt you, but I can't just ignore this like I have been all school year." Kurt stopped talking and was still breathing hard from his rant._

_Blaine bit his lower lip and stood up. "Okay. I'm glad you told me." And he started walking away."_

_Kurt grabbed Blaine's hand. "Are you mad at me?"_

_Blaine turned and Kurt could see the hurt in his eyes. "What's his name?"_

_Kurt looked at his feet. "Zack."_

"_Have you kissed him?" Blaine asked._

_Kurt's eyes filled with tears again. "Yes. Twice."_

_Blaine turned before Kurt could see him cry. "Okay." He tried to say calmly, but his voice obviously broke at the end._

"_Blaine… I'm sorry." Kurt whispered._

"_Of course you are." Blaine scoffed as he walked away._

_Kurt stood there in horror for a minute before running to catch up with his now ex boyfriend. "Wait, Blaine, we're four miles from your house. Let me drive you."_

"_I could use the walk." Blaine said, walking faster away._

Blaine blinked a few times, trying to wake himself up. It was just a dream; just a dream. He repeated those words like a mantra in his head, trying to convince his subconscious that it was true, even though even the core of his being knew it was a lie.

Kurt Hummel. Blaine still couldn't think that name without crying, wincing horribly, or breaking something. Usually the latter, which was extremely frustrating for him and his parents. Sighing, Blaine glanced at his clock. 5:30 am. Groaning, Blaine trudged towards the bathroom he and his sister shared. There was no way he was falling asleep again, and he had to wake up in an hour anyway. Maybe he'd get some of his neglected homework done.

Damn, he couldn't even remember the date. He felt like fucking Bella Swan. Like, as soon as Kurt left him, he had nothing. It was stupid, really. For a seventeen, now eighteen, year old to complete plan his life around his high school sweetheart, but Blaine had done it, damnit, and now had no plans for the future. None.

NYADA was completely out. He could _not_ go to school with Kurt every day. Hell, New York was out. Yeah it was a big city, but Kurt was still in it, and Blaine knew that with every fiber of his being. He could _not_ set himself up for that. He just _couldn't_.

Blaine turned the shower heat all the way up so that it was scalding his skin and leaving red welts. Blaine hated himself. He really did. It was ridiculous. He was eighteen and had his whole life ahead of him. Why was he getting hung up on some stupid boy he met when he was 15? That had broken up with him over two fucking months ago? It was the end of February for crying out loud, and Blaine still wasn't over it.

The heat wasn't helping anymore. After all these weeks, Blaine was virtually numb to the pain. He hadn't realized how long he'd been standing under the heat when Abby knocked softly on the door.

"Blaine, mama sent me to see if you're okay." She said.

Blaine turned the water off. "Yeah, I'm fine Abs." Well. Not entirely. He hated himself, he hated his family, he hated his school, he hated his friends, he hated his bullies, he hated every goddamn thing but he couldn't _do_ anything about anything.

He had _tried_ to keep up with his relationship with his sister, and his mother, and his father, and his friends at school, but Blaine wasn't feeling much up to keeping up _any_ relationships lately, and everyone was giving him space because of it. Blaine dressed quickly, grabbed a granola bar, and kissed his sister on his way to his car to drive to school. He parked in the back of the student lot (the place his car was least likely to get vandalized).

Walking to his locker, he realized he was over an hour early. Grabbing his AP Physics book, Blaine headed to the outdoor picnic tables to work on his assignment. After fifteen minutes or so, Tina and Artie came by to say hello, but sensing Blaine's bad mood, headed in a different direction soon after.

"Hey fag." A voice said from behind him.

Blaine grabbed his books and completely ignored them.

"Hey, Anderslut, I'm talking to you."

Blaine turned around to face them. "Did you come up with that one on your own? Or did your girlfriend, who I might add is a complete whore since she even tried to get into _my_ pants, say it first? Because if it was you, I'm seriously so proud," he said icily before stalking off to class. Blaine braced himself as they came up behind him and pushed him, hard, into a locker.

"Well shit." Blaine muttered to himself as they ran away laughing, "That's gunna bruise."

The next few days went by much the same, but Blaine could tell the bullying was steadily going to get worse.

"Morning cocksucker."

Blaine internally groaned. "Hello Ryan. And posse."

"Maybe you should just get out of our school, homo. We thought when your cocksucker, that Hummel bitch, left you would too. But you had to stay and rub all your rainbow shit all over our school."

"Well your dad didn't seem to mind it last night when my cock was up his ass. You do remember how he was late for dinner, right?" Shit. That was definitely something he hadn't thought through.

Ryan's eyes widened. "H-how did you know that."

Blaine winked. "I just told you, didn't I?" Sensing that he'd gone too far, Blaine grabbed his books and tried to make a break for the school. One of Ryan's friends (what was his name… Steven?) reached for Blaine's backpack and threw him on the ground. His other friend, Sean, started kicking Blaine in the stomach.

"Get your faggy ass out of our school, Anderson."

Blaine couldn't tell which one of them was speaking; he just hoped that by some sort of miracle a teacher or a brave student would see this soon.

"Not so brave without your cocksucker's big brother around, are you?" they taunted.

"Hey!" a voice called, "What the _hell_ is going on here?" a voice called across the school grounds. The three boys split it up and ran to the direction of the front doors as if the devil was on their heels (by the look of Beiste's face, it was close to true).

"You alright Anderson?" she asked, helping him up.

Blaine grabbed his books, wincing at the pain in his upper stomach. "Yeah, I'm fine." He took a deep ragged breath and, oh shit, that hurt. He leaned over to grab his books and winced again when he stood back up.

"Come on, to the nurse." She said, leading him towards the school.

"No, really, I'm fine." Blaine insisted.

Beiste game him a quick glare. "You have blood all over you face, Anderson. And you can barely breathe without cringing."

Blaine reached up and touched his forehead and, damn, when did they hit him there? He allowed himself to be led to the nurse's office. After a quick look (in which Beiste refused to leave him) Blaine was told that the gash in his head was shallow enough, he didn't have a concussion, and that one of his ribs was probably cracked, but an X-ray could tell them for sure. Blaine shrugged her off, told her he was fine and rushed off to class. He'd already missed first period and wasn't intending on missing any more.

Blaine walked into Glee that afternoon hesitantly. He chose a seat in the back by himself and hoped no one would comment on his already bruising face and his blood stained clothes. Hell, who was he kidding? No one would even notice. No one _ever_ noticed. But he couldn't help but hope, as Tina and Artie walked in, that someone would say something and offer some kind of support.

He knew what his dad would do. He'd look at him disappointed and shake his head as if to say, "Well Blaine, you're choosing to be gay. And the world is going to beat you up for it, so you better get used to it." He knew what his mom would do. She'd offer to enroll him back into Dalton, even though she knew he wouldn't go back there after the eye incident.

And of course, Burt had called him up a few days after he and Kurt broke up, telling him that he'd always be there if Blaine needed him, but what could he do? He was living in Washington DC, dealing with all of his senator work.

And no one in Glee said anything. Mr. Schue gave a funny look at his bloody shirt, but made no comment. Blaine sat in the back and stayed quiet the whole period, before rushing out when the bell rang, and sprinting to the car. He was safe in here, in the locked car. His ribs still throbbed when he ran, or moved, or _breathed_. Blaine took some Advil to try to make the pain stop and drove home.

He immediately started working on his homework and skipped dinner that night. He didn't want to face his parents. Of course, facing his parents would've been better than just admitting to them what had been happening and prevent the incident that happened the next March.


	6. Chapter 5

_Trigger warnings for homophobia and slight violence_

* * *

**Chapter 5**

**Blaine's hell year—part 2**

It had been going on for months. Hell, it'd been happening since the first day of school. And it was just getting worse and worse. Blaine sighed as he stared at his mother's box of sleeping pills. It would be so, so easy…

_You guys are young. I want you to promise me that no matter how depressed you get, no matter how hopeless or alone you feel, you'll try your best to imagine all of the amazing experiences you have ahead of you._

_No._ Blaine told himself. _You're been there before, and you lived through it then. You're alive for a _reason_. You can't go back. Besides, killing yourself if just letting Ryan and Kurt and my parents and everyone_ win_; like admitting that they got to me._

Blaine got up off his bathroom floor, put away his mother's prescription medicine, and grabbed his backpack. Heading for school, he parked in the back as usual. Then he walked up to the school, and rattled off some insults at Ryan, Steven, and Sean after they made a few 'fag' and 'cocksucker' comments. Things were going on like a normal day. Then Blaine walked off to get ready for class. Unfortunately, he was walking right past a staircase when his tormentors decided to push him into a 'locker.'

Blaine woke up in the hospital the next day. This time, two of his ribs really _were_ broken, along with his wrist and nose. He was covered in bruises and it hurt to do anything. The doctor had informed his parents that one of the broken ribs had been cracked recently and hadn't healed properly, along with telling them that the majority of the bruises were weeks old, and not from this particular incident.

"Blaine, are you being bullied again?" his mother asked softly.

"Its fine mom, I can take care of myself."

"Obviously not!" His mom exclaimed. "You could've been killed, Blaine.

" I'm not fourteen anymore." Blaine muttered.

His mother sighed, exasperated, "But you obviously need the same protection." She sighed. "Honey, do you think you need to go back to Dalton? This whole McKinley thing, it was okay for a year, but it doesn't seem like it's—"

Blaine cut her off. "No, mom." While he may not have had many friends at McKinley, the only Dalton kids he was actually friends with had all graduated the year before. "Besides, it's only three more months. And our Glee club is going to Nationals, and I don't want to miss it, mom."

She sighed. "Okay, Blaine. But promise me you'll tell me if anything happens again?"

Blaine nodded. "What going to happen to Ryan?"

His mom sighed sadly. "He and his friends claimed it was harmless horsing around and it was a complete accident. They didn't mean to push you so hard or towards the stairs."

Blaine rolled his eyes. "Of course." He looked at the hospital bed. "How long to I have to stay here?"

"Only a little bit longer, love." She replied, kissing her son's forehead. "Maybe a few days. And then we're going to LA for Spring Break to look at that college, remember?"

Blaine smiled. "I remember. And then I can go back to school?" he asked.

She grinned. "Yes, then you can go back to school."

"Good." Blaine nodded. "I don't want to miss too many Glee rehearsals."

His mother nodded in understanding. "But you have to promise you'll tell us if something else happens." Blaine nodded.

Of course, when the locker pushing continued, Blaine kept his mouth shut.

_June_

"Yeah, mom. It's on the seventeenth. At eleven am." Blaine was on the phone with his mother, telling her (again) the details of his high school graduation. His parents and his sister were on vacation in Europe with his maternal grandparents, who were then going to fly over to his graduation. But, of course, since his grandparents had a _lot_ of money, they never did anything half way and were going to fly back in their private plane.

"Okay mom." Blaine said. "I'll see you Sunday. Have a good flight. Yeah, I have to go take my next final. Mhm. Kay mom. Yeah, I love you. Bye."

"Aaaw, does bitty baby Anderson wuv his mommy?" Ryan, Steven, and Sean taunted and snickered from behind Blaine. "Do you need to make sure that mommy doesn't forget to pack your goldfish for snack time, and your blankey for nap time?"

"Fuck off." Blaine said, walking to class.

"What did you say to me, Anderson?" Ryan roared.

"I clearly said for you to fuck off. Or fuck yourself. Or fuck each other; that would work too." Blaine left for his last class of the year, leaving three angry classmates behind him.

Later that week, Blaine (who was desperately trying to repair his relationships) was with Tina getting ready for graduation. "Are your parents here yet?" she asked him.

"Not yet, but they probably won't be here until an hour or so before. If they even make graduation at all."

"Oh shush." Tina grinned. "they'll be there. Now, can you _please_ help me with my hair?"

"Tinaaaa!" Blaine groaned. "You know I'm not very good with hair. Look at this helmet I put up with every day."

Tina laughed. "Alright, you're no Kurt Hummel, but you could still..." she trailed off at the look on Blaine's face. "Oh. Right, I'm so sorry Blaine. I wasn't thinking, I just—"

"It's fine." Blaine said, smiling. "I need to get over it sooner or later anyway. He's your friend; you should be able to talk about him without being afraid of how I'll react."

Tina was still giving him a sympathetic look. "I'm still sorry."

Blaine sighed. "I know. So am I."

A few hours later, the two found themselves at graduation. All the speeches had taken place, and more than half of them (Including Blaine and Tina) had received their diplomas. Blaine kept scanning the audience, but could _not_ see the serious faces of his grandparents and father, the soft and doting face of his mother, or the silly and bubbly face of his sister anywhere. He shrugged it off. They were late much of the time. The plane probably just left later than they had anticipated.

After the graduation was over, Tina and Artie, along with a few other Glee kids, pulled Blaine over for some pictures. Once, he thought he saw Kurt watching him in the sea of people, but shrugged it off and continued taking pictures. He only let his smile falter once he saw Mr. Schue heading towards him with a pained look on his face.

"Blaine, I need to talk to you." Blaine followed him out until they were sitting in Mr. Schue's office. Emma was already sitting there, tears streaming down her face.

"What's going on? What's wrong? Why are we in here?" Blaine asked.

Mr. Schue had tears in his eyes when Blaine looked up, but he let Emma do the talking. "Blaine, it's really important that you try to stay calm after I tell you this. I know it'll be hard, but try."

Blaine nodded. "Anything. What's wrong? It is Abby?"

She tried to nod and shake her head at the same time, but Blaine could tell her news was too depressing for him to find if funny. "Blaine, we just got a call from the coast guard. They found a small private plane that had crashed. There," her voice broke. "there were no survivors. It was your grandparent's plane."

And in less than a second, Blaine's whole body went numb. It was like someone had burned him with fire, but doused him with ice water at the same time. He didn't believe it. He _couldn't _believe it. "There has to be some mistake." Blaine insisted. "It can't be them. Their plane was just… It's just late. It's… It's not them. It has to be someone else."

Emma shook her head. "I know this is hard information to take, Blaine. No one should ever have to hear it, especially at your age, but it's true. Now, someone is going to come to your house and have you identify the bodies and such. But you're eighteen, so that's really all you owe to them, and all they owe to you."

"No." Blaine said. "No! No, no, no!" he knew he sounded ridiculous, but he couldn't' stop repeating the word. "Take my grandparents, fuck them, they've always hated me. Take my father, whatever, I've never been good enough for him. But my mom and Abby, they can't take them. They can't be gone. They _can't_."

Emma and Will tried to hold back their tears so they could be strong for Blaine, but his sobs led them into their own. After sitting on the floor, sobbing, for over an hour, Blaine stood up wearily. "I should probably get home."

"Blaine, no." Emma said. "Come stay with us tonight. Please?"

Blaine shook his head. "I can't."

Emma shot him a sympathetic look. "Can I come check on you later tonight?"

Blaine nodded, letting the numbness sink back over him. It was better than the pain. "Yeah, sure."

She nodded and let her tears fall freely as Blaine walked out the door and into his car. This was the last time he would ever be on the McKinley campus for a very long time, but he couldn't bring himself to care. Blaine drove to his house in a daze, and ended up in his back yard.

_Is it bad enough yet? _Blaine thought to himself, _Every reason you have to live is gone. The love of your life is gone, your family is gone, you're done with school. You have no reason to yet up tomorrow morning. _"Is this fucking enough!" he yelled into the blue sky to no one in particular.

Blaine was angry. He still didn't want to believe it. "Take my boyfriend, fine. Take my friends, take my school, take my identity. Just, why did you have to take my family? Why? Who up there hates me? Who has it in for me? Am I just the butt of some big practical joke the universe is putting on? Why me? Why my mom? Why Abby? Why… Just… Why?"

Blaine didn't realize how long he'd been sitting in his back yard, yelling at the sky when he realized how dark the sky had become, and how bright the stars were. He heard a noise and turned to see Emma standing behind him. She was carrying a tray of food and had tears running down her face.

She sat next to him and placed the food behind him. "Blaine," she said, crying, "I don't know why this happened to you. I don't know why, after all you're already gone through, this had to happen. You're had an incredible life, Blaine, and I wish I could say that in a good way." She paused and took a deep breath, trying to slow her tears.

"But despite everything you've gone through, you're still here. You're still alive. Just the fact that you made it to eighteen and your high school graduation is amazing. From what happened to you at your first high school, I know how bad it got. And then in March…" Emma trailed off and looked at her hands. "Blaine, there's something for you to do in this world. Something that's going to make a huge difference. Somewhere, there is someone searching for help that only you can give them."

"How can you know that?" Blaine whispered, leaning into her. He hated how much she smelled like his mother.

"I don't know Blaine, I just do. I'm not saying that you had to go through this pain, that all these bad things had to happen to you so you could help someone someday. That's definitely not what I mean. I just… Living through this is going to be hard, I know it is, but if you can do it, nothing will ever be able to touch you."

"They both sat in silence for a few moments, save their sniffling from crying. "What am I supposed to do now? I know I'm eighteen, and I'm an adult, but… But I'm not. I'm still a kid. I can't be an adult about this."

Emma sighed and pulled Blaine closer to her. "Oh sweetie, I know." They sat in silence for a few more moments before Emma spoke up again. "I have no idea what to say to you, Blaine. I just don't know how to help you. But if you ever need me, don't be afraid to call me. I know that this is hard, and I know that this seems like the end of the world, and I know it seems unfair. But you have to believe that you _will_ get through this."

Eventually, sometime after midnight, Emma headed home, promising that she'd be back tomorrow. And as promised, she did show up the next day. And a few times the next day. And the next day. It would've been over bearing if Blaine hadn't known that he _needed_ her. And everyday it was a battle. A battle between himself and the need for the pain to all be over. But whenever he was there, had made his decision, he remembered his junior year.

_You guys are young. I want you to promise me that no matter how depressed you get, no matter how hopeless or alone you feel, you'll try your best to imagine all of the amazing experiences you have ahead of you._

So he did. And two weeks after graduation, Blaine was ready to go. He had sold all four of his parents' cars, deleted all their cell phones and bank accounts. He'd identified the bodies and had sold the house. All the money his parents and grandparents had were now in Blaine's bank account, since his mother had been an only child she was supposed to get all his grandparent's money when they died. Earlier that morning he'd packed up all his stuff and bought a plane ticket to LA.

The only things he'd kept that had anything to do with Lima were his clothes, his guitar, his laptop, a box of miscellaneous things from high school—his heart shaped eye patch, his warbler tie, etc., and Kurt's 2012 Christmas present. For some reason, he couldn't bring himself to give it away yet. Opening his laptop, sitting on the floor of his empty home, Blaine logged on to his email, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and youtube accounts and deleted them. Within thirty minutes, Blaine Anderson had been erased from the internet.

And now it was time to erase himself from Lima.

Blaine thanked his mom, where ever she was, for convincing him to apply for schools all over the United States, even if he had thought college in LA was ridiculous. But here he was, signed up to live in the dorm. He met his new roommate, Joseph something-or-other. Whatever. He was funny, really nice, and was more than happy to give Blaine his privacy.

Knowing that he needed it, Blaine had quickly found himself a therapist in LA, and started making appointments around his class schedule. The first time he was there, he noticed this really pretty, yet obviously shy girl. And over the next few weeks, he watched her while waiting for his appointment to start.

She had long dark curly hair and green eyes. She had a sad smile and always wore cute vintage-like dresses. She reminded him a little of Abby in the way she held herself, the texture of her hair, and the color of her eyes. He was so lost in staring at her that he barely registered her walking towards him.

"Hi, my name's Jayden. I noticed that you're here when I'm here much of the time, so I thought I'd stop by and say hello." She smiled widely at him, and it wasn't her usual sad smile that she wore when the receptionist talked to her, or the doctor called her name.

Her happy smile was so gorgeous that Blaine couldn't help but smile back. "Hi. I'm Blaine."

* * *

Aaaaaaaaand there you go The end of the worst few years of Blaine's life. But doesn't that mean it can only get better from there? ;) Originally this was one chapter. Which is why the end of the last chapter and the beginning of this one seem so abrupt. But I suppose it's okay. :)

Slight tangent: I don't know when different state Primaries are, but California's is tomorrow and I'm a poll worker for it. I know the Primaries don't really seem like they matter all that much, and less people go out for those than the actual elections, but everyone find out when you're Primary is, and go vote! (Kay. Tangent over).


	7. Chapter 6

Once again, thanks for continuing reading and being generally awesome, because... I don't know. Just because being awesome rocks. :)

* * *

**Chapter 6**

Blaine hit his fingernails on the table in a rhythm to the song playing on the radio in the background. He continued grading homework assignments while waiting for Carrie to get to his house. He walked over the door when he heard a knock.

"Hey, Blaine." Carrie said, smiling as he opened the door.

"Hey Carrie. Everything's where it usually is, I should be back around midnight, Rose has been a little hyper all day, and she took a really long nap, so if she wants to stay up a half hour or so later than usual, that's fine." Blaine said while grabbing his coat and keys.

Rose ran into the room. "Miss Carrie! Miss Carrie! Miss Carrie! Look what I drew for you!" the four year old exclaimed, shoving the piece of paper in Carrie's face. "It's you, and me, and daddy. We're at the park, see, this is the swing set…" she kept telling Carrie her story while Blaine said good bye to her and walked out the door to his car.

Blaine pulled into the familiar parking lot, grabbed his guitar from the back seat, and headed inside.

Kurt Hummel was lying on the bed in his new apartment. He was one hundred thousand million billion trillion percent bored out of his skull. Rachel and Finn were out to dinner with his parents and her parents, and no one else that he knew well had gotten stuck or come back to this shitty town like him.

Well, except Blaine. But it was obvious that Blaine wasn't going to call him any time soon. Which meant he was stuck in this crappy town until he could make enough money to move back to New York. Which, from the looks of it, wouldn't be for five or six months. Which meant that he was stuck in this shitty no where town that he spent his whole life trying to get out of until _June_. Fucking _June_. Kurt had thought about asking friends from work if he could stay with them (that would make work a lot easier; he was sick of Skype conferences and emailing things back and forth. Luckily for him they were okay with that), but everyone at work either had a roommate or was married.

Groaning and rolling onto his back on his bed, Kurt pulled out his Iphone and started up a Google search for 'Things to do in Lima, Ohio.' Because it was the first result page, Kurt ended up on , where he started scrolling through all the news and future events. Then he saw an add for a café (and bar) in downtown Lima, near Blaine's school, that had live music, from any local performer, on Friday Saturday nights.

Kurt shrugged on his jacket, and grabbed his keys, phone, and wallet. Anything was better than moping around his apartment. Climbing into his old car from high school (that his dad had kept up to date all these years), Kurt headed towards the address the cafe was said to be at.

The parking lot looked fairly crowded, but Kurt had assumed it would be. It seemed there was nothing else for people in their twenties to do in this godforsaken town. Kurt headed towards the door and walked into the café. The live music apparently hadn't started yet, but Kurt saw someone setting some stuff up in the corner of his eye. So while he waited, Kurt pulled out his ID, walked to the bar, and ordered a beer.

It was really crowded, so Kurt couldn't get a seat close enough to the stage to see who was performing, but he could hear it just the same. He heard an acoustic guitar start up as he contemplated whether he should eat here or go home and make something later. Amidst his deciding, Kurt heard someone start singing.

_I woke up this morning and the sun was gone_

_Turned on some music to start my day_

_I lost myself in a familiar song_

_I closed my eyes and I slipped away __  
_  
And, _holy fuck_ he knew that voice.

Blaine couldn't decide what song to start with. He'd been doing this for almost a year. It started when one of his Glee kids told their parents that he was amazing on a guitar and a piano. Those parents just happened to own a café that had live music every Saturday night, and Blaine had been asked to play at least once a month since then.

He was actually a huge hit. The regulars to the café loved bringing their kids to listen to 'good music,' which of course meant that Blaine would virtually play anything and everything; every genre from every time era. He usually took requests after playing two or three songs.

And it was usually pretty good. It had been a train wreck that one time someone had suggested he sing 'Blackbird,' and he barely pulled off someone's request of 'Somewhere Only We Know' a few weeks later, but his emotional connection to music in general is what attracted people to his nights at the café, so it was okay.

Except for that one time he was asked to sing Teenage Dream. He kindly told the person that he was sorry, but he couldn't.

So he strummed a few chords on his guitar, tuning it before launching into 'More Than a Feeling' by Boston. This was one that most everyone liked. Next he played 'Check Yes Juliet' by We the Kings. Then he opened it up for people to request things.

The process was simple. People would write their song request on a piece of paper and give it to anyone that worked there. Then they would put it into Blaine's fedora (that he _always_ brought to these things) and he would draw one. If he didn't know it, he'd throw it out and choose another.

By the end of the night he'd sang Journey, Adele, Michael Jackson, Carrie Underwood, Miley Cyrus, Disney songs, One Republic, P!nk, Usher, Queen, Snow Patrol, Ke$ha, Beyonce, Justin Beiber, REO Speedwagon, and Coldplay. When it seemed to be getting later, Blaine said he'd take one more song. Reaching into his hat and grabbing a paper, Blaine saw, in what he was _sure_ was Kurt's pristine handwriting, '_Candles—Hey Monday_.'

Taking a deep breath, Blaine read off the name of the song to the audience, headed to the keyboard he had set up, and started playing it. He focused everywhere but the audience for this song, determined _not_ to find Kurt. _Not_ to sing it to him. Then it was time for his closing song; it was almost midnight and Carrie had to work tomorrow. So he _really _needed to get home

Blaine's last song, he decided, was 'Ours' by Taylor Swift. This one was hard for him to play, but easy at the same time. It had been his song to Kurt in high school, what with the way his father had treated Kurt, so it was difficult. But since he'd never actually _told_ anyone that it was 'their song' in his head, it didn't hold any concrete meaning.

Or at least, that's how Blaine rationalized it.

_Elevator buttons and morning air_

_Stranger silence makes me want to take the stairs_

_If you were here we'd laugh about their vacant stares_

_But right now my time is theirs_

_Seems like there's always someone who disapproves_

_They'll judge it like they know about me and you_

_And the verdict comes from those with nothing else to do_

_The jury's out, but my choice is you_

_So don't you worry your pretty little mind_

_People throw rocks at things that shine_

_And life makes love look hard_

_The stakes are high, the water's rough_

_But this love is ours_

And then Blaine looked out at the audience and saw, in the back, that familiar face standing in the back. He tried to ignore it. He tried to pretend he didn't see him, but once Kurt's eyes locked on to his, he knew he couldn't pretend. So he did the next most illogical thing he could think of: he sang _to_ Kurt.

_And it's not theirs to speculate_

_If it's wrong and_

_Your hands are tough_

_But they are where mine belong and_

_I'll fight their doubt and give you faith_

_With this song for you_

How could Blaine have been so stupid? Kurt was pushing his way towards the front. Blaine had _known_ that Kurt had to have been there. No one else would have requested 'Candles.' It wasn't a popular song among the people here. And he _thought_ he had seen Kurt's grey-blue shoulder bag. And yet he _still_ sang his favorite closing song.

_So don't you worry your pretty little mind_

_People throw rocks at things that shine_

_And life makes love look hard_

_Don't you worry your pretty little mine_

_People throw rocks at things that shine_

_But they can't take what's ours_

_They can't take what's ours_

_The stakes are high, the water's rough_

_But this love is ours_

There was a long moment after the song when Kurt held Blaine's eyes captive. Blaine knew he needed to look away. He needed to pack up his guitar and put his keyboard in the back room at the café. "Alright," he said finally, tearing his gaze away from Kurt's, "I should probably head out. Don't want to leave the poor babysitter with my little monster too long." Blaine winked.

Most everybody knew Rose. On the days Carrie had to the night shift, Blaine would bring her along; she'd stay for some of the music before falling asleep in the back room where his keyboard was stored.

Blaine put his guitar away in its case and put all of his sheet music in their respective folders. He coiled the cords that went to his guitar, microphone, and keyboard and put them in their boxes. Carrying that, the microphone, and his keyboard to the storage room, Blaine sincerely hoped Kurt had left after his song.

Hell, who was he kidding, since when had he been _lucky_ in life?

"Blaine?" a soft (beautiful, musical, amazing—shut up Blaine!) voice called from behind him.

Blaine put on his carefully constructed smile and turned. "Hey, Kurt. Did you enjoy the show?"

"Yeah, I did. Your piano version of _Tik Tok_ actually made the song worth listening to, instead of the piece of trash it usually is." Kurt grinned.

Blaine laughed, "Well, that was the intention."

And surprisingly enough, they virtually left it at that. They talked a little bit more walking out to the car, but Kurt never commented on Blaine's renditions of 'Candles' and 'Ours.' It's as if he _knew_ Blaine was afraid to talk about it.

"Well, I better get home, it's getting pretty late." Kurt said, leaning on his car (where he and Blaine had spent the last minute or so chatting about the weather, the _weather _of all fucking things).

"Wait," Blaine said, "Have you been drinking?"

Kurt rolled his eyes. "I had about half a beer at the very beginning of your show, like, two hours ago. And then I remembered I don't even _like_ beer, so I gave it to someone else."

Blaine laughed. "So let me get this straight, you _forgot_ you don't like beer?"

Kurt blushed and shrugged, "Not exactly. I thought I might like it this time."

Blaine couldn't hold in his laughter. "You're one strange man, Kurt Hummel."

Kurt laughed too. "I could say the same thing about you, Mr. Anderson. I mean, who teaches 5 year olds _and_ fifteen year olds? Seriously, who puts themselves up to all that torture? Who _does_ that?"

Blaine laughed. "I do that, that's who."

"Well I'm the kind of person who tries beer every few months to see if I like it yet."

"Touché." Blaine said before looking at his watch. "Well, I better get home. Carrie needs to work tomorrow so." He shrugged and grinned. "Night, Kurt."

Kurt smiled and tried to suppress the butterflies in his stomach. "G'night Blaine."

When Blaine got home, Carrie was watching some horror movie he'd gotten from Netflix earlier that week. She jumped so high when the front door opened. "I thought you hated horror movies." Blaine laughed.

Carrie laughed too. "I do. But I felt like watching one."

"You're not going to sleep tonight." Blaine pointed out.

"Shut up, yes I will." Carrie giggled. Blaine sat down to finish the movie with her, and found that he couldn't stop smiling. He'd just, had a good night, he guessed.

When the movie was over, Blaine grabbed the remote and turned it off.

"See?" Carrie asked, "Piece of cake."

Blaine shook his head in disbelief. "You're still not going to sleep tonight."

Carrie stuck her tongue out at him teasingly. "So why are _you_ so smiley tonight?"

Blaine rolled his eyes. "No reason."

"Yes reason." Carrie demanded. "You met someone!"

Blaine shook his head, and Carrie couldn't deny the truth in his eyes. "Nope."

She looked at him confused. "You re-met someone?" she watched his eyes carefully and saw the glimmer of confirmation. "Ha! You did! I knew it!"

"Yes, yes. You're very smart. Now go home and go to bed." Blaine instructed playfully.

She jokingly saluted him. "Yes sir!" she gathered up her stuff and headed towards the door. "Just, one more thing, Blaine." She said seriously.

He turned and looked at her. "What's that?"

Carrie's face broke out into a grin. "Can I help plan your wedding?"

Blaine groaned while trying not to laugh. "Go home, Carrie."

"Night, Blaine."

"Good night, Carrie."


	8. Chapter 7

Just wanted to send out a quick HAPPY FATHERS DAY to all the dads or future dads out there :)

* * *

**Chapter 7**

"_Fuck you! I'm leaving and I'm never coming back!" he yelled at his parents, red faced and throwing clothes in a duffel bag._

"_Cooper Anderson, you stop that this instant." His father demanded._

"_No!" The teenage boy stubbornly yelled._

"_Cooper, please. You're upsetting Blaine and Abby." His mother said softly._

"_Yeah? Is that all that matters anymore? Blaine and Abby, because they haven't grown up enough to prove they're just big disappointments, just like me? No. Fuck no. I won't stand for this. I know I'm not who I want you to be, and I've accepted that I'll never make you happy no matter what. So I'm going to give up trying, and make myself happy."_

"_Oh Coop, you're being insanely selfish right now." The woman said again._

"_Don't 'Oh Coop,' me. I'm leaving. Don't try to find me. I don't give a shit about you anymore."_

_Four year old Abby had just started crying. "Shhh," Blaine, now fifteen, whispered in her ear. "Come on, honey. Let's go to your room and play with your dolls, okay?"_

"_But why can't they just love each other?" the little girl sobbed once the siblings reached her room._

"_They do, sweetheart. They just don't know how to show it sometimes." Just then the door slammed and another 'I'm never coming back!' was heard._

"_Does he mean it?" Abby whispered, nuzzling her face against her brother's chest._

"_Mean what?" Blaine asked absentmindedly._

_She sighed. "That he's never coming back."_

_Blaine squeezed her hand. "I don't know, honey."_

_After a long pause, she spoke up again. "Blaine?"_

"_Yeah?"_

"_Promise you'll never leave me, okay?"_

_Blaine kissed the top of her head. "Never."_

* * *

Monday morning, Blaine stumbled into work exhausted. Since he'd stayed up so late watching that movie with Carrie Saturday night, he'd slept in Sunday morning. Suprisingly enough, so had Rose. And because he'd slept so late, Blaine couldn't sleep Sunday night, and then had to get up early Monday morning.

Getting Rose up was nearly as hard as getting himself up. She had trouble sleeping the night before, too. "I think I'm sick, daddy." She told him

Blaine felt her forehead and took her temperature. She didn't have a fever, and claimed her head didn't hurt and neither did her stomach. "I think you're just tired, princess." Blaine said.

Rose sighed. "Yeah, you're probably right. I'm so sleepy."

Blaine laughed and the two got ready for school. He took his daughter's hand and took her to the door of her classroom before heading to his own. When he got there, his students were patiently sitting in their desks.

"Good morning everybody!" He called, and Blaine went on with his day as normal.

As usual, around lunch Blaine walked across the street to the preschool to give his daughter a quick kiss before heading to the high school side of campus. He got a few "Hey, Mr. A's while walking to his office. He smiled and said hello back to his students.

He walked in and taught his class normally. His US history class had projects over the War of 1812 due, so all he had to do was sit back and watch them present. He was surprised when the phone in his office rang. He asked the student presenting to wait a minute while he took the call. It was the school secretary. "Blaine?" she asked.

"Yes?" Blaine replied.

"There's someone here to see you. He said his name is Cooper?"

Blaine's jaw dropped. What was he… What the hell? "Um, yeah sure. This period is almost over, send him over."

"Alright. I'll give him his visitors pass and he'll be right over."

"Thanks." Blaine said, hanging up his phone in a daze. He walked back out to his classroom and motioned for the student to continue with her presentation. She did, but he didn't hear any of it. As soon as she was finished, the bell rang and the students filed out. Blaine opened the door to his classroom to see his brother, looking significantly older than he had ten years ago, on the other side of the door.

"Blaine?" the man asked.

"Cooper?" Blaine replied. And then, with no warning, the two men launched themselves at each other in a tight embrace, both with tears threatening to fall out of excitement of seeing each other after so long. Some students were giving them curious looks, but no one payed them _too_ much attention. "It's my prep period." Blaine explained, "so if you want to come in and talk…"

Cooper nodded enthusiastically and the two walked into Blaine's office and sat down. "Is Abby around here somewhere? I mean, it'd only make sense that mom and dad would send her to the school you teach at. It'd be pretty cool to see her. She's what? Fourteen now?"

Blaine's face fell. "You haven't heard?"

Cooper shook his head slowly. "Heard what?"

Just then there was a knock on Blaine's door. He looked out the window and groaned. Motioning to his brother that he'd just be a minute, he exited the office. "Kurt, what are you doing here."

"Look." Kurt said, "I'm really bad at this kind of thing, and I know that I don't deserve it, but I'd really like it if you'd… You know… Go out with me sometime. To like, coffee or dinner or something. Just the two of us. Like, on a date." Kurt blushed and glanced at his hands before glancing up at Blaine shyly.

"Kurt," Blaine started, "That's really sweet and all, but I'm kinda in the middle of something right now. I can't really talk."

"I can call you later." Kurt offered.

Blaine sighed. He was _not_ ready to do this again. "Look, Kurt. No. I'm not looking to date someone right now. I'm still trying to stand on my own two feet with Rose and all, and I really am out of shape with the relationship thing. I can't. Not right now; not with you." He hadn't meant to say the last part out loud, but he didn't _entirely_ regret it coming out.

"Oh." Kurt said. "I… I guess I understand. No, I don't guess. I _do_ understand. I treated you badly, and I'm sorry." He took a deep breath. "But I would like to be friends, still. I mean, I'm stuck in Lima for a couple months, and I'd really like someone to talk to and do things with. So, will you and Rose do me the honor of being my friends?"

Blaine looked at the floor nervously. He couldn't set himself up for this. Not again. Not when he still wasn't over him. "I'm sorry." Blaine said, "I can't."

Kurt nodded his head in understanding. "Okay. I'm sorry for even asking. It was selfish of me." He sent Blaine a hopeful smile. "Maybe I'll see you around?"

Blaine let his face turn stony. "I wouldn't plan on it." He tried not to let Kurt's heartbroken face affect him, but he knew it was a lost cause.

Blaine headed back into his office. "Who's this?" Cooper asked, pointing to a picture of Rose and Blaine that he kept on his desk.

"My daughter, Rose." Blaine said. When Cooper looked confused, Blaine told the whole story.

"Wow, man." Cooper said, stunned. "I'm sorry about your best friend."

Blaine shrugged. "Yeah, so am I. But it's in the past, I guess, and I've had a few years to accept it. And Rosie and I get along just the two of us just fine, so I guess everything's okay."

Cooper looked around the room awkwardly "So were you going to tell me before your friend came by?"

"Oh." Blaine whispered, trying to muster the courage to tell his brother. '_It's not like it'd be that big of a deal to him. He's been gone for ten years_.' Blaine rationalized. "They, well, mom, dad, and Abby, and mom's parents, that is. They were in an accident. Seven years ago they were flying back from a trip to Europe to come to my high school graduation and the plane crashed. None," Blaine held back his tears. "None of them survived."

Cooper's face was unreadable. Blaine saw anger and sadness mixed on his older brother's face. Blaine had anticipated this much; of course he'd be upset. Whether he'd seen them recently or not, they were still _family_. After a few minutes of the two brothers trying to comfort each other, Cooper spoke up.

"I," Cooper paused, trying to control his own emotion, "It was so stupid of me to hold a grudge that long. Look at all I missed, and all that I'll never get back. I can't believe I let myself hold a grudge on mom and dad for ten years. Especially now that I know they've been gone for seven of those ten."

Blaine shrug-nodded. "I mean, I get it. Mom and dad never really accepted you. Then wanted you to be a mini-dad and they weren't okay with it when you weren't. I would've been mad, too."

"But for ten years?" Cooper asked.

Blaine had to admit he had a point. "Okay, maybe not. But I don't blame you."

"Because of my anger," Cooper said, "I never got to see my baby sister again. She was four when I left." He looked up at his brother. "Four, Blaine. And I'll never know what she was like when she was five, or six, or seven. I wasted her last years being mad at mom and dad."

Blaine shrugged. "Don't beat yourself up too bad for it. Yeah, it's terrible, and yeah, it sucks. But it's over, and there's nothing you can do about it now except forgive mom and dad for the way they treated you, and trust me when I say that they forgave you for running away."

Cooper looked up at Blaine, hope in his eyes. "Did they really?"

Blaine nodded, and he knew it was true. "They were more mad at themselves for the way they treated you than anything else. They forgave you the second they realized you weren't coming back."

Cooper smiled and tried to laugh through his tears. "Yeah? And how long did that take?"

Blaine laughed too. "Well, I'm pretty sure the 'I'm leaving and I'm never coming back!' comment you made gave them a clue."

Cooper laughed and accepted the box of tissues Blaine held out to him. Then he agreed to wait in his office until Blaine's last class was over so they could head back to Blaine's house and talk more. Blaine's last two classes went quickly and soon enough he and Cooper were heading across the street to the preschool to pick Rose up from school. Blaine walked in while Cooper waited outside. "Honey," Blaine said to Rose, "I have a surprise for you."

Rose's eyes widened. "Really, daddy? What is it?"

Blaine smiled. "You know how Riley's mommy has a brother, who's her uncle?" Rose nodded. "Well I have a brother, and he's your uncle. He lives in Europe, but he's here for a surprise visit, and he's really excited to meet you."

"Really!" Rose exclaimed. She grabbed Blaine's hand and practically dragged him outside.

"Rosie, this is your Uncle Cooper. Coop, this is Miss Rosie-talks-a-lot." Blaine introduced.

Rose shot her father a playful glare. "I do _not _talk a lot, daddy. It's nice to meet you Uncle Cooper."

"You too, Rose." He said. Cooper was only a little bit surprised when Rose pulled him in for a hug.

"How old are you?" She asked, but continued without waiting for a response as they walked out to the parking lot, "I'm five, and daddy's twenty-five. Miss Carrie my babysitter is twenty I think, and Miss Stephanie my teacher is somewhere in her forties, but I'm not sure where. But I think you look older than me and daddy and Miss Carrie, but you look younger than Miss Stephanie. So I think you're somewhere in your thirties."

Cooper laughed. "Smart little girl, aren't you? I'm thirty-one."

Rose grinned and kept talking until they reached the cars. After all, she and her uncle had a _lot_ of catching up to do. She kept fairly quiet on the ride home, but once she and her Uncle Cooper were out of their cars and into the house, the chatterbox started up again.

Blaine let her talk as long as Cooper didn't seem to mind it, and he started on dinner. Dinner and a viewing of _Tangled_ later, Rose was fast asleep in her bed.

"You weren't kidding when you said she talks a lot, were you?" Cooper laughed.

Blaine laughed too. "Nope, not at all. She'll even talk to her pet rock if she thinks I'm not listening." The brothers laughed for a moment while collecting their thoughts. "So what have you been up to the past ten years, Coop?"

Cooper shrugged. "Nothing much. Working odds and ends jobs in Europe, playing a couple shows a week with my band. We're not that famous or big, but we make enough to live fairly comfortably, as long as we keep our day jobs."

Blaine laughed. "Is it nice? To just live a life where your only responsibility is youself?"

Cooper sighed. "Sometimes it is, but usually it's not. I see how someone like you would want that. You've been taking care of people your whole life, it's who you are. When we were young, you'd take care of me. When Abs was born, you took care of her. You were always mothering your friends in school, and I'd assume in high school as well. Once you got to college and met your best friend, you got Rose and now you're taking care of her."

Blaine nodded. His brother basically just hit the nail on the head. Blaine _mothered_ people, it was true and he couldn't deny it. And maybe that was why he craved Rose's company so often, and why he'd wanted to become an educator. Blaine put those thoughts aside for later speculation.

"That's why I'm sure you're such a good teacher, though. Because you genuinely care about people. Me though, I don't really care about much but where I'm playing next and what I'm eating for lunch tomorrow. It's not as great as it sounds. I'd rather be you half the time." Cooper explained.

Blaine nodded again. That made sense. While he enjoyed his music nights at the café, taking care of Rose and teaching his students is what kept him going each day. "But it's good for you, probably more than my job would be." Blaine reasoned.

Cooper nodded. "Yeah, it is." They both stayed quiet. "I should probably go soon." Cooper sighed. "I only came for the day. To see you and Abs. But I guess you and Rose now. I'm catching a red eye back to London—I have a show tomorrow night."

Blaine nodded. "Alright. Well drive safe and have a good flight. And remember that you're always welcome here." Blaine wrote down his home phone number, cell phone number, email address, and mailing address to give to his brother. "Never hesitate to contact me, ever."

Cooper smiled and kissed his brother on the cheek in good bye. "Never. Good bye Blaine. I'll talk to you soon?"

Blaine smiled. "Definitely." Cooper had been gone for about five minutes when Blaine remembered his words earlier that day.

_It was so stupid of me to hold a grudge that long. Look at all I missed, and all that I'll never get back._

Blaine knew what he had to do. He couldn't risk ending up like Cooper, lost in his own misery because he held a grudge for no reason. He picked up his phone and dialed the a number.

"_Hello?_" Asked the musical voice on the other end.

"Hey, Kurt. It's Blaine."


	9. Chapter 8

Hey, sorry this is a day late. I was up in Seattle with my sister, my friend, and my friend's sister because they were running the Rock 'n' Roll Seattle Marathon. If you live in Seattle, I apologize for the insane traffic and all the roads being closed. I also apologize because I seriously hate driving in your city. Like. I probably texted "I hate Seattle" dozens of times. But mostly I just hated all the 1-way streets near the civic center...

Anyway. Congrats to Kaeli/Haley/Katie and anybody else for their marathons/half marathons, and now I shall let all you get to the real reason you're here :)

* * *

**Chapter 8**

Between things like getting coffee at the Lima Bean and taking Rose to the park, Kurt and Blaine slowly became friends again. The first half of December passed quickly. Blaine tried to repress the emotions that always came around Christmas and it seemed that he was getting better. Maybe the cure to getting over Kurt, was Kurt.

December eleven found the two sitting on a park bench watching Rose swing on the icy swings with another girl around her age and later trying to make a castle for their Barbies, failing miserably. While they were sitting there, Blaine and Kurt talked about everything under the sun, except each other.

But that was okay. Kurt just felt good talking to Blaine, and just being with him. He'd gone from being his whole life to not even existing within a few months. Of course, that hadn't been Blaine's fault at _all_; and Kurt took full responsibility. He just didn't know how to let Blaine know how sorry he was.

A few weeks ago, Burt had told Kurt about all the bullying Blaine had endured in his last few months in Lima. Kurt had gotten the feeling that his father wasn't telling him the _whole _story, but he knew somehow Blaine had been pushed down a staircase and hospitalized. Because of him.

"It wasn't because of you." Blaine had assured him. "It was some stupid bully, Kurt. Not you."

Kurt wasn't sure he agreed with Blaine, but he supposed that'd be something he'd just have to accept he'd taken some part in. "How can you live here without going crazy?" Kurt asked one day when he was thoroughly sick of Lima.

"It's not as bad as you seem to think, Kurt." Blaine laughed. "At least the community I take part in is super family oriented. A lot of the parents of my students try to always be there for me and Rose. On nights that they know I have to work late they'll bring Carrie—my babysitter, and Rose dinner so I don't have to leave something, and so Carrie doesn't have to try to work in my less-than satisfactory kitchen."

"Tell me about Carrie." Kurt said.

"She's really sweet, and one of the smartest people I've ever met. She took so many college classes in high school that she was able to apply straight for nursing school. She got her ASN in two years, and she moved back to Lima. She's working in the ER right now I believe. But anyway, Rose just _loves_ her. They're practically best friends. Carrie's like her big sister."

Kurt smiled. "That's really sweet."

"So tell me about Rachel and Finn's baby." Blaine urged. "She must be, what? Eight months now?"

"Pretty much; she's at thirty-three weeks." Kurt grinned. "The baby is a boy, and his due date is January 29. They haven't completely decided on a name, but they won't even tell anyone their choices. He's growing well, and his estimated weight is 7 pounds, 9 ounces. Of course, that's not entirely accurate since she still has about seven more weeks to go, but we'll take it."

Blaine smiled at Kurt. "That's so exciting. You happy to be an uncle?"

Kurt grinned. "So completely stoked."

Blaine made a face. "Well, if I ever get married, I can't marry an only child."

Kurt laughed. "Hey, your brother may still have kids."

Blaine shot Kurt a jokingly 'judging' look. "Have you _met_ my brother? There's no way he's settle down and become a father."

"People change." Kurt winked.

Blaine couldn't help but laugh. He definitely knew _that_ first hand. "True. Well, we'll see. He lives in Europe anyway."

Blaine's phone buzzed. Apparently he'd left his 'Facebook' app up. Earlier that week, he'd gotten recommendation from one Rachel Berry to (re)join "The 2012 McKinley High School New Directions" group. Assuming he wasn't going to stay hidden forever, not now that Mr. Schue, Burt, Kurt, Rachel, and Finn had found him, Blaine joined.

"For those in Lima this Christmas," Blaine read, "come to Rachel's dads' house for a reunion Christmas Party, December 19 from 7:00 to midnight."

Kurt took out his phone to see an invitation for the same thing. "Do you think you'll go?" Kurt asked.

"If Rose wants to, why not? It's not like many of us are in Lima anyway. And I have nothing else to do. It's not like I have any family here to spend time with or anything." Blaine surprised himself by making a mental note to call his Chicago uncle one of these days. Maybe he really _was_ getting better…

"Well I'll probably end up planning the whole thing. You know Rachel and parties." Kurt rolled his eyes.

Blaine flinched. "Has she changed since high school?"

"Not really."

"Ouch." Blaine jokingly shuddered. "Don't want to repeat that."

Just then Rose walked over and announced she was freezing. "Can we go buy hot chocolate, daddy?"

"I didn't bring my wallet with me; I'm sorry honey. I can make some for you when we get home, though." Blaine explained. Rose looked sad, but she accepted what her father was saying.

Kurt smiled at her. "I'll tell you what, Rose. I know this place where you can buy really good hot chocolate, and I'll buy it for you."

Rose's eyes lit up as if Kurt was the coolest person on the planet. "Really Mr. Kurt? You'd do that?"

Kurt laughed. "Of course I would. But it's a short walk from here, so we'll have to leave now if you want to get home before it gets too dark."

Rose started bouncing on her toes. "Okay. I can walk really good, Mr. Kurt." She took his hand and let him point her in the direction of the store they were going to. Blaine followed them, smiling at his daughter's enthusiasm. They ended up at some small hole-in-the-wall department store with a café in the back.

"I know it looks weird, but they really do have the _best_ hot chocolate." Kurt insisted. Blaine laughed as Kurt ordered three medium hot chocolates with extra whip cream.

"Since when does Kurt Hummel eat whip cream?" Blaine teased as they sat down at a table.

"Since," Kurt paused to think about it, "I'm not sure, actually. Sometime in college it became my guilty pleasure."

As soon as Rose finished her hot chocolate, she promptly started dozing off on Kurt's side, so he wrapped his arm around her. Blaine laughed as he saw she had chocolate and whip cream all over her face. Grabbing a napkin he attempted to wipe it off, making both he and Kurt laugh.

One of the cute teenage girls (wearing a 'WMHS PRIDE' bracelet), who had walked out to wipe some tables down turned to the trio. "Your daughter is really cute." She said to Kurt and Blaine.

"Oh," Kurt blushed, "she's not mine. She's his."

"I figured." The girl said. "She looks too much like him for you to be the father."

"No," Kurt continued. "She's not mine at all. We're," he motioned to himself and Blaine, "just friends."

"Oh!" the girl blushed. "I'm so, so sorry! I just assumed…" she trailed off before grinning. "Well, for the record, you two would make a really cute couple."

Kurt and Blaine both blushed. "Um. Thanks." Blaine choked out eventually. After a few minutes, they woke Rose up and started walking away from the store and back towards Blaine's house, where Kurt's car was parked. Blaine waved goodbye to Kurt as he carried his still half asleep daughter inside. She'd missed her nap today since they'd gone to the park, and her bedtime was in an hour, so Blaine put her in bed and let her sleep.

He logged onto his Facebook and checked the notification from the ND page. Already Rachel, Finn, Kurt, Tina, Mike, Santana, Brittany, and Mercedes had confirmed they were coming. Rory had left a comment that he couldn't, since he was in Ireland for Christmas, and Sam, Quinn, and Artie said they might be coming. A few minutes later, Sugar sent in a 'no,' claiming she'd be with her dad in the Virgin Islands for Christmas

So it was just him, Joe, and Puck who hadn't responded at all. Blaine wondered if Puck was even near town. He never seemed that close to his family, so why would he come back? But then again, Blaine and Puck hadn't paid each other much attention in high school.

Blaine sighed. He knew Carrie worked that night, so she couldn't watch her. And Blaine didn't really trust anyone else with Rose (that, and no one could get her to fall asleep except Carrie and Blaine).

_Blaine Anderson  
Will it be kid friendly?_

Within fifteen minutes he got over thirty comments, ranging from "BLAINE! I haven't talked to you in forever!" (Mike) to "Really back from the dead this time, Anderson?" (Sugar) to "Does this mean Blaine isn't in Canyland, Santana?" (Brittany) to "KID friendly, Blaine? Is there something you need to tell the class?" (Mercedes). A little bit later Kurt commented, "Check his pictures, 'Cedes."

"Short version of the story: adopted, Mercedes." Blaine responded. Within minutes of Blaine laughing over all the comments, Rachel left hers. "Blaine: Definitely kid friendly :)" Blaine responded with a "Great!" Before saying he was going to go. A few minutes later Puck said he couldn't go because he was in Idaho with his fiancé and almost-step daughter. This got seven 'likes.'

Later that night, Quinn changed her 'maybe' to a 'yes' since she and her boyfriend had decided to spend Christmas with her mother in Lima instead of with his family in Texas. With no explanation, Artie changed his 'maybe' to a 'yes,' Joe sent in a 'no,' and Sam changed his 'maybe' to a 'no.'

After working on some lesson plans, Blaine's computer made a noise, indicating that he had a notification.

'_2012 New Direction Reunion Christmas Party' has been renamed 'The Rachel Berry Christmas Party Train Wreck Extravaganza Part 2.'_

'_Santana Lopez, Kurt Hummel, and 5 others like this.'_

_Rachel Hudson-Berry commented on 'The Rachel Berry Christmas Party Train Wreck Extravaganza Part 2' event's page: "Yay!"_

* * *

_December 19_

Blaine didn't know how to dress for these kinds of things. He had been searching though his closet for almost an hour; was this too fancy? Was this too casual? How do you just go to a party where you will be surrounded by people you purposefully sent yourself away from seven years ago? How was he supposed to face Tina and Artie? They'd become really great friends his senior year, and he just brushed them off like they didn't matter.

Rose was sitting on the edge of Blaine's bed, swinging her legs back and forth, watching her daddy with a peculiar expression on her face. "Why are you so upset, daddy?" she asked.

Blaine cursed his luck for having such an observant daughter. "It's nothing, sweetheart. I'm just nervous about seeing all these people I haven't seen in a really long time."

"Oh." Rose said, looking thoughtful. "Are you excited kind of nervous?"

Blaine nodded, grabbing a pair of jeans, a grey button-up shirt, and a red bow tie. Rose had _insisted_ that she wear her new red skirt and black shirt. Her dark curls had been pulled back half-up so it would stay out of her face. Blaine had to admit, she looked really pretty and all grown up. It set him a little on edge.

A half hour later, he and Rose were in the car on the way to Rachel's dads' house, where the party was supposed to be held. He was only two or three minutes late when he pulled up, but everyone's car seemed to be there. Helping Rose out of her car seat and grabbing her hand (more for his support than hers) Blaine and his daughter walked to the door.

Being in her doorbell fascination stage, Rose begged him to let her ring it; he obliged. Within a few seconds, Rachel opened the door. "Blaine!" she exclaimed, attempting to hug him without hitting him with her swollen belly.

"Everyone's here except Mike, Tina, and their son. Their plane was a little bit delayed thanks to a snowstorm in Detroit." Rachel shrugged, and then turned to Rose. "Hi, sweetie! You must be Rose!"

Rose nodded, hiding behind her father.

"I really like that name. I think it's very pretty. It starts with the same letter as my name!" Rachel was kneeling down at Rose's level.

Rose glanced up at her. "Really?"

"Yup!" Rachel grinned. "R-rose. R-rachel. See?"

Rose giggled. "That's cool! I like your name too, Miss Rachel. I had a friend in preschool named Rachel. She was really nice. But she wasn't pregnant like you."

Rachel smiled. "That's good." She stood up and turned to Blaine. "If you two want to come downstairs into the basement, Jordan, Quinn's boyfriend's, little brother Drake, is here. He's barely five, so he's a few months older than Rose. And Brittany and Santana's daughter Annie is here, but she's not even three yet." Rachel explained as she, Blaine, and Rose descended the steps to the basement.

In the corner, Annie and Drake were watching a Christmas movie and eating cookies. Santana and Brittany, who were obviously still together, were smiling and laughing with Mercedes and who Blaine assumed was Mercedes date. Quinn and another girl were watching Kurt, Finn, Artie, and a man who Blaine assumed was Jordan playing ping pong.

Rachel was about to sit down and enjoy the party when there was another knock at the door. Rose had run off to watch the movie with Drake and Annie, leaving Blaine standing there awkwardly. Rachel looked up at him with pleading eyes—eyes that reminded him way too much of Jayden. "Blaine, could you please get that? My feet are killing me. I'm pretty sure it's Mike, Tina, and Peter."

Blaine trudged up the stairs and opened the door. On the other side was Mike and Tina, who was holding a baby who couldn't have been older than two or three months old. "Blaine." Tina breathed. "I can't believe… Oh my god. How have you been?"

Blaine shrugged and grinned. "Okay. How about you?" The three of them walked down the stairs, chatting the whole time. Mike went to join the ping pong tournament, leaving Blaine and Tina to talk. Which they did. They talked about _everything_ from their jobs to their families to their colleges.

"I can't believe that you're back here in Lima." Tina laughed. "I always expected you to end up in New York, Los Vegas, Chicago, Los Angeles, or _something_ after a while."

Blaine shrugged and grinned. "Well I certainly still have time. I'm only twenty-five, remember?" he winked and Tina laughed. The rest of the night was actually really fun. Blaine couldn't believe that he'd pulled himself away from these people all those years ago; they were his family.

And eventually, _everyone_ had come up to Blaine and given him a hug, or a high five, or _something._ He even ended up having a conversation with Kurt about Christmas at one point that night.

"It's funny, because Rose and I have never really done Christmas. I mean, I've always gotten her few presents, but we've never done the whole thing. This year she wants to decorate the inside and outside of the house, get a tree, make cookies for Santa, have stockings above our fireplace, have Christmas dinner; everything."

Kurt laughed. "Well, she's four years old. It's about time you gave her a mega Christmas."

Blaine smiled in return. "Yeah, I guess I've just never been a Christmas person."

"Never?" Kurt scoffed. "You _loved_ Christmas in high school." Then both of them fell silent, begging the awkwardness to disappear. "Never mind. Forget I said that."

Blaine laughed nervously. "Done. No more 'why Blaine doesn't like Christmas' talk."

By the end of the night, Blaine had won the video game tournament between him, Finn, Mike, Jordan, Nathan (Mercedes' boyfriend), and Artie. He'd talked about teaching with Artie's girlfriend, Saira (who was a first grade teacher back in LA while Artie directed small-scale films) and planned a Christmas shopping trip later that week with Santana, Brittany, and Quinn (if you're going to give Rose her first big Christmas, you _have_ to do it right!").

By the time Blaine got home that night, he couldn't wipe the smile off his face. Maybe, just _maybe_, having friends wasn't a bad thing anymore.


	10. Chapter 9

Sorry about the week delay! I left for a camping trip last Friday with some friends for the weekend, and then went on another trip with my parents the rest of the week, and I just got home earlier today. Er. Yesterday. ANYWAY, here's chapter 9!

* * *

**Chapter 9**

Blaine was practically hyperventilating. This was the stupidest thing he'd done since… Since… Since forever, okay? Attempting to take a deep and calming breath, Blaine looked back at the pasta on the shelf of the grocery store. Why was he getting nervous over buying pasta?

Forgetting about his four year old for the moment, Blaine groaned and muttered, "What the fuck is wrong with me? I'm acting like a teenager!"

Rose giggled. Blaine looked at her and laughed, half at himself and half at her. "Yeah? What's so funny, silly?"

She kept on giggling. "Daddy said a bad word." She pointed out.

"Yes." Blaine said slowly, trying to justify this. "But that's because daddy's an adult, and sometimes adults can get away with saying bad words. But little girls can't."

Rose sighed dramatically (she was seriously a mini Rachel Berry sometimes, he _swore)_. "Okay Daddy. But you can only get away with it sometimes, deal?"

Blaine laughed. "Deal."

"Pinky promise?" She asked seriously.

Blaine grinned as he wrapped his finger around her tiny one. "Pinky promise." He grabbed the bow pasta (Rose's favorite), and started towards the produce section to make sauce for the pasta.

What was the stupid thing Blaine had done? Well, Blaine had decided, for the first time since high school, to celebrate Christmas. But that wasn't the stupid part. Rose _asked_ to do Christmas this year ("all my friends at school say it's really fun!"). And Blaine couldn't say no to his little girl. No. The dumb part was inviting Kurt over for Christmas Eve dinner. He knew the Hummel-Hudson-Berry clan did this huge ordeal Christmas day (Rachel would not shut _up _about it last week), but they did nothing for Christmas Eve.

And then when Kurt muttered about nothing to do that day, Blaine opened his big stupid mouth and offered him to come to his place for dinner. This wouldn't usually be that big of a deal. I mean, they were slowly becoming friends again, right?

Blaine bit his bottom lip and sighed. It wasn't him and Kurt that was the problem. It was Christmas Eve once again, and being with Kurt freshened the memories even more then he would like to admit. And he knew Rose was picking up on it, she had asked him, "What's wrong daddy?" at least seven times today.

Blaine picked out what he needed and rolled the cart to the cash registers. Rose was hungry, tired, and getting a little grumpy, so Blaine tried to distract her by talking to her.

"Blaine?" a female voice said from behind him.

He took a moment to put the smile on his face before turning to see Carole, Finn, and a waddling Rachel. "Hello Mrs. Hummel, Rachel, Finn." He nodded to each in turn. "What are you guys doing here?"

Rachel ignored him. "Hi Rose! How are you?"

Rose smiled at her. "I'm good. How are you?"

Rachel grinned. "I'm great, thanks for asking."

Rose bit her bottom lip, as if contemplating something. She motioned to Rachel to come down to her height so she could whisper something in her ear. "I was just wondering how you know my daddy. Because I've never met any of his friends before. Well, besides Miss Carrie and Mr. Kurt."

Rachel grinned. "I went to high school with him."

Rose's eyes lit up. "So you went to school with Mr. Kurt, too?"

Blaine blushed, but Rachel laughed. "Yeah, I did. And you wanna know something really cool? Kurt is my brother-in law."

"Oh." Rose nodded seriously. Then she looked confused. "What does that mean?"

"It means I'm married to his brother." Rachel explained. Rose's face lit up in recognition and she smiled.

As if sensing Blaine's discomfort, Carole spoke up. "Alright," she said, "I've got to get home you two. Let's go. It was nice seeing you, Blaine."

Blaine shot a thankful smile at her. "You too."

Carole hesitated before leaving. "Don't hesitate to stop by if you need anything. Your car fixed, a babysitter, or just dinner, anything. We're here for you."

"Thanks." Blaine said, looking at his feet. "I appreciate it."

As they walked away he heard Finn's muttered, "What did you mean by 'you two?' I didn't even say anything!" And Blaine snickered.

"Come on Rosie. Let's get home." Blaine pushed the cart into the parking lot after paying. "This Christmas traffic is driving me crazy."

When they arrived home, Blaine gave Rose a snack and then put her down for a nap in her room. Glancing at the clock, Blaine saw that he had about an hour before Kurt would get there. Pasta didn't take _that _long, but he needed something to distract himself, so he started cooking.

He had just finished setting the table when he heard a knock at the door. Checking to make sure Rose hadn't woken up yet, Blaine went to open the front door. "Hey, Kurt." He greeted.

"Hello." Kurt said shyly. "How was your day?"

Blaine shrugged. "Okay. I graded some finals this morning and then took Rose grocery shopping. We saw Carole, Finn, and Rachel there." He offered.

"I heard." Kurt smiled.

There was a short silence before Blaine spoke up. "How was your day?"

"Busy." Kurt snorted. "I had a bunch of sketches due around noon today and only had like, half of them done when I woke up this morning. And then I helped dad around the shop."

Blaine nodded. "But you got your sketches done?" he asked.

"Yup." Kurt smiled. "So what's for dinner? I'm starving."

Blaine led Kurt to the dining room that he and Rose _never _used. "Let me just get the food out here and wake Rose up and we'll be ready."

"Can I help with anything?" Kurt offered.

Blaine hesitated. "Um, sure. Do you mind getting Rose?"

Kurt flashed Blaine a dazzling smile. "Not at all. I think I'm in love with her."

Blaine raised one eyebrow and turned to walk into the kitchen. "Get in line, buddy."

Kurt poked his head into the kitchen. "Line?"

Blaine laughed. "Yeah, so far it includes me, Carrie, my brother, Rachel, your dad, and half my students."

"Oh." Kurt said, his eyebrows furrowing for a moment. "Yes, but I get first dibs."

"Au contraire," Blaine grinned, "I think Carrie and I get that title."

"Fine." Kurt grumbled. "Second dibs."

Blaine laughed and puts the food on the table. He grinned ear to ear when he heard the giggling and squealing from his daughter. "Hi Mr. Kurt!"

They took time eating dinner, talking, joking, and gigging with each other. While Rose pulled the focus of both men towards her, the two couldn't help but take short glances at each other, catching each other's eyes occasionally.

"Okay Rose." Blaine said once it was around 8:00pm, "Time for bed."

"No, Daddy! No!" she whined.

Blaine laughed. "Yes, Rosie! Yes! Don't you want Christmas to come tomorrow?"

The small girl crossed her arms and pouted in her chair. "Yeah… Okay, fine. But can Mr. Kurt tuck me in and read me a story?"

Blaine frowned and glanced at Kurt. "I don't know if he—"

Kurt cut him off. "Of _course_ I'd love to read you a story!"

Rose grinned and ran up to kiss Blaine good night. "Night Daddy. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Night Rosie." Blaine laughed and watched the two disappear down the hall. He turned and put the dishes in the sink before walking back to watch Kurt and Rose. It took three months before she let Carrie put her to bed, and Blaine wanted to be there in case Rose threw a temper tantrum.

"_And he called to the world as he flew out of sight, 'Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.'_" Blaine heard Kurt reading. Peaking in, he saw Kurt sitting on the edge of her bed with a half asleep girl nestled into his side.

Smiling to himself, Blaine headed back out to the kitchen to wash the dishes. He was so engrossed in the plate he was washing that he didn't hear Kurt come in the room. "Someone's concentrated." he smiled.

Blaine turned and smiled back. "Washing dishes is hard work."

"I'll bet." Kurt laughed. "She fell asleep almost immediately." After a brief pause, his face turned sober. "I really am sorry. About everything. My, uh, my dad told me about your parents a few days ago."

Blaine shrugged. "It's okay. About everything. I mean, it was seven years ago. It hurt like hell at the time, but I'm okay now. I kinda just made up a new normal."

"But you were all alone." Kurt pointed out. "How did you cope? You practically disappeared."

"I made friends in college." Blaine insisted.

"You had a 4.0 in college. I know; I checked."

"So?" Blaine whined.

Kurt laughed. "You had a 3.8 at _McKinley_, of all places; you obviously never did anything after school or on the weekends."

Blaine shrugged uncomfortably. "I studied, yes. What does that have to do with anything?"

"I just don't think you've dealt with it." Kurt shrugged, "I think you locked all those feelings away, somewhere deep inside you, and ran away to LA to get away from the memories. And when you thought you could completely fend off the pain you came back. But you haven't made any new lasting friendships, dated anyone, or contacted any of your family since your senior year in high school. That's not 'normal,' Blaine."

Blaine took a deep breath, trying, and failing, to keep in all he was thinking. "You try losing all of the only things that matter to you in a space of seven months, and see how normal you can get, Kurt." Blaine knew he was on the verge of yelling and that he would probably wake Rose up, but he couldn't make himself care. "You try having the only person you really knows you and cares about you cheat on you with some New York hotshot, get bullied relentlessly for months and end up hospitalized by the fucking homophobes at the school you transferred to because of your boyfriend who, may I remind you, just cheated on you, and then have your parents, grandparents, and baby sister die in a plane crash on the way to your fucking graduation, and on top of _that_ having your best friend die a few years later. You try that, and let me know how fucking normal you can get! Because that's suffering, Kurt. And maybe I did run away to LA to get away from the pain. But you know what? Anyone who fucking blames me for it is an idiot who I dare to go through the same things and come out normal, and they can go to hell while they're at it."

The silence after Blaine's rant was deafening. Kurt just stared blankly at the man in front of him, who was breathing hard and trying to calm down. Blaine abruptly walked out of the kitchen and Kurt heard the bedroom door open. Thinking this was his dismissal to leave, Kurt started walking towards the door.

"Wait." Blaine tried to keep his voice flat, but it came out in a strangled sob. "I..." he paused, trying to keep his emotion in. "I have something for you." He held out an old wrapped shoe box. One of the sides looked bent in, like it had been hit against something; a bedpost, a wall maybe?

"What... What is this?" Kurt asked hesitantly.

Blaine shrugged, trying to look nonchalant through his tear streaked face. "Your 2012 Christmas present."

"Blaine... Blaine I can't take this. I don't deserve it." Kurt said, pushing the gift away.

"I'm not going to do anything with it. I don't want it sitting in my closet, haunting me, anymore." Blaine said. "Besides. It's yours anyway. Merry Christmas, Kurt."

Kurt took it and turned to the door. "Merry Christmas, Blaine."

Kurt managed to get all the way to his apartment parking space before he broke down in tears. He shakily unwrapped the box before opening back the top. Inside was a card on top of a layer of tissue paper. Kurt opened the card first. Inside he read, in high school-Blaine's untidy scrawl,

_Kurt,_

_I just wanted to start with how much I've missed you the past few months. I know I'll say it countless times in the four weeks we're together, but I love you. I love you so much, it physically hurts—and not just when we're apart. It hurts all the time, but don't worry. It's a good kind of hurt._

_But that's not the point of this note. The point it that I love you, and I want to be with you. Forever. That's the significance of the things in this box. You'll understand when you open the rest of it. But before you open anything, I just wanted you to know that I'll love you no matter what you do or say or do after you open this. Now, without further ado, open it. And remember that I love you._

_Love,_

_Blaine_

Kurt's hands were shaking uncontrollably as he tried to pull the paper away. On top of another layer of tissue paper was a simple envelope. He couldn't figure out why he couldn't read it until he realized he was crying. Hastily whipping his tears away, Kurt began to open the obviously already open letter to read,

_Mr. Blaine Anderson, we are pleased to inform you that you have been selected as a finalist for the New York Academy of the Dramatic Arts_...

Kurt couldn't make himself read the rest of the letter. He had read his own that year so many times that he practically had it memorized. Turning back to the box, Kurt pulled back the last layer of tissue paper to reveal a velvet jewelry box. He opened the box to see a shiny silver ring sitting prettily in the box. Taking it out, Kurt peered at the ring. It had three small diamonds on a silver band. Kurt saw light catch the inside of the ring and inside was inscribed, "No regrets, just love."

The inside of the box, where the ring had previously been sitting, suddenly fell out. There was another small and folded up note. Kurt unfolded it and started reading the years old writing.

_Kurt,_

_If you are reading this, then HOLYFUCKINGSHITOHMYGODI'MGOINGTODIEOFEXCITEMENT you said yes. Yes! You freaking said yes! And I'm engaged to the most beautiful, amazing, pure, and loving man on the entire planet. And I'm moving to New York after high school with you and Rachel, where it's actually LEGAL for us to do this._

_So I just wanted to let you know my reasoning. Because, I mean, I'm not even eighteen yet. And we're each other's first boyfriends. And we're so young, and I'm still in high school, and we watched what happened with Rachel and Finn, and the all the odds are just against us. But Kurt, I know for a fact that I never can or will love anyone else ever. I know we're young, I know we're inexperienced, I know neither of us have 'tested any other waters,' I know that the odds say we're not going to make it. But I know we'll make it, Kurt. We'll go further than anyone else ever has gone. And we'll do it together._

_I love you. And I know I'll never want to marry anyone except you. I don't care how, I don't care when, I don't care if we're thirty before you decide you're ready. I just know that you're all I want. I'm just giddy with the idea of us getting married and being together forever, and then when we adopt kids together, and live in New York together and..._

_I can just see it all Kurt. And I want it. I want it so bad. I want to wake up with your head next to mine every morning. I want to wake up next to your body every morning. I want to see your beautiful smile when I surprise you in the kitchen after I've been told to stay out, I want to come home from work everyday to _our_ home, I want family pictures on the walls of you, me, and one, two, or three beautiful children staring back. I want to be able to see you every minute. I never want to be apart from you ever again, because I'm in love with you. Because I love you. Because I care about you. Because I want us both to be happy for the rest of our lives. And everything will be perfect. Forever. Because we'll be together, and that's all we'll ever truly need._

_And, since you said yes, I'm going to assume that you want this too. I love you with all my heart. And I'm so glad to be engaged to the most perfect person on the entire planet._

_Love,_

_Blaine_

Kurt couldn't help it. He just closed his eyes, leaned his head against the steering wheel, and sobbed.

* * *

Blaine sat on the edge of the couch for over an hour, just sitting here and crying. It was stupid. He had known it was a stupid idea to invite Kurt over, but he did it anyway. He'd known it was stupid to give Kurt that present, just to prove how hopeless and stuck in the past he was. I mean, who keeps the ring from a rejected proposal for fuck's sake!

'Well,' Blaine rationalized to himself, 'It wasn't exactly a rejected proposal, considering I never actually proposed…' He sighed and tried to dry his tears before bed. He felt a tug on the sleeve of his shirt.

"Daddy, did you have a bad dream?" Rose asked softly, using the same gentle and loving tone Blaine used with her.

Blaine shrugged and tried to laugh through the sobs threatening to break through. "Not exactly honey, but you could say so."

"Do you want to sleep in my bed tonight, Daddy?" Rose offered.

Blaine legitimately laughed at this, but his voice was still shaky. "I don't think we'd fit, love."

Rose frowned and put her little arm about her father's waist. "Do you want me to sleep in your bed with you tonight?"

Blaine kissed the top of her head and let the tears fall. "That'd be great."

* * *

Aaaaaaaaaaand this is the part of the story where one of my betas, Itzel, wants to strangle me. This was actually the first chapter I wrote as well as the first chapter I sent to her sooo... yeah! I hope you like it so far and I'll see you next weekend!

As always, you can follow me on tumblr at ily morethanorequal 2 kurtnblaine (only without spaces because this website is ridiculous) and Itzel at kennymccormicks and Carrie my *other* beta at thelostslytherin! :)


	11. Chapter 10

This week has been seriously crazy. My parents have been gone so I've been holding down the fort here at home (and we have bunnies and birds and puppies and kitties and multiple gardens and a pool and... well, it's been busy) as well as working and broken computers, this has been a really crazy week, but chapter 10 is here nonetheless! :)

* * *

**Chapter 10**

It was December 27, and Blaine Anderson was sitting on his living room couch, moping, eating ice cream, and watching _It's a Wonderful Life_. Carrie had stopped by earlier to bring Rose her Christmas presents, and ended up taking her out to a park. She knew something was off when Blaine was still wearing his pajamas at one in the afternoon, but when Blaine hadn't even reminded them to take Rose an extra jacket (like he always did in the winter), Carrie knew something was wrong.

A few hours later, Rose and Carrie returned to the house. Blaine continued sitting on the couch, grading tests, watching TV, and looking generally depressed. Carrie made herself, Blaine, and Rose dinner, watched a movie with Rose, put Rose to bed, and came out into the living room to sit by Blaine.

"Okay. First of all, I'm Rose's babysitter, not parent. You are. Would she have even eaten tonight if I hadn't been here?" Carrie demanded.

"Of course!" Blaine exclaimed. "I'm not going to let my daughter go hungry."

Carrie raised her eyebrows. "What would she have eaten? Cereal? Ice cream?" Blaine didn't answer. "Look, Blaine. Rose told me that you and Kurt got into a fight. You've told me enough about him, about your past, for me to figure out a bit of what's going on. I don't know what Kurt did to you, or why you haven't gotten over him in almost a decade, but you're acting like a teenager. And news flash, you're not a teenager, Blaine. When you and a friend get into a fight, you can't just expect the world to take care of everything for you. You are twenty-five years old; you can take care of yourself.

"But whatever, screw yourself if you want, but you aren't seventeen anymore. You have responsibilities that go past your test next week or your paper due tomorrow. First and foremost, you have a daughter, Blaine. A daughter who loves you very much and just spend a half hour crying to me because she's worried about you. She's four years old, and she's in tears because she's worried for her father, who's supposed to be the one taking care of her. And besides your daughter, you have a boss and a job that you can't just put on hold when you have problems.

"And what about me? I've called you more than twenty times since Christmas, and you haven't answered one call. I didn't even know if you and Rose were okay, or if something had happened, or if you just upped and ran away again." Blaine cringed. Why did she have to bring that up? "I thought we were friends, Blaine. But friends don't treat each other the way you treated me the past few days. And I understand that this is hard for you, that you're going through a rough patch, but snap out of it, because you're acting like a child."

She stood up, grabbed her purse, and headed towards the door. Turning back to him, she sighed with tears in her eyes. "I love you Blaine. And I want to help you, but I can't if you won't let me."

* * *

Blaine knew Carrie was right, and that she had every right to say what she said to him, but that didn't stop it from upsetting him. He knew how to take care of his own daughter, damnit. But… He had been complaining in his head that Kurt made him feel (and apparently act) like a teenager.

Blaine sighed took a notebook from his closet—one of the few things he'd kept from that summer after high school. In the notebook were all the phone numbers, cell numbers, work numbers, addresses, and email addresses from everyone in his extended family. He'd made it first for places to send graduation announcements, and then used it for the funeral.

He flipped through the pages, and one by one put marks by the people he knew he couldn't contact. People who had since died, people who had blamed him for his family members' deaths, people who didn't accept the fact that he was gay, and people who he just didn't like. On the third page, in his high-school handwriting, he read seven phone numbers, two email addresses, and one address all to one family.

Blaine had no idea if his aunt and uncle still worked in the same places, lived in the same house, had the same cell phones, or even if they still lived in Chicago, but he knew he had to try. Glancing at the clock, Blaine saw that it was 8:30 pm. That wasn't too late to call, right?

He tried the home phone number first. Apparently the line had been disconnected. Next, he tried calling his aunt's cell phone—also disconnected. When calling his uncle's number, he ended up with a generic answering machine. He hung up without leaving a message. It was too late to call their work numbers, and he wanted to try and call them before he tried emailing them.

Blaine guessed 'growing up' would have to wait until tomorrow.

* * *

Blaine woke up the next morning around 7:30, and immediately started making Rose her favorite breakfast—French toast. When she came into the kitchen about twenty minutes later, Blaine set the food in front of her.

She grinned up at him. "Does this mean you're not sad about Mr. Kurt anymore, daddy?" she asked.

"I'm still sad," Blaine started, "But I feel a lot better."

Rose smiled even wider. "Good!" she glanced down at her hands before shyly looking up at her father through her eyelashes. "I just want you to be happy, daddy. Because when you're happy, you smile. And when you smile at me, I have to smile back. And that makes me happy."

Blaine knelt down and hugged his daughter. "When you smile it makes me happy too, sweetheart."

Rose grinned and hugged Blaine even harder. Then they ate breakfast and made plans for the day. First, they would take her out shopping to buy some new clothes (she'd nearly grown out of hers again). Then they decided they wanted to buy something special for Carrie, since she'd spent the whole day with Rose yesterday (and since Blaine had been such a complete asshole to her).

The duo got home around lunch time, and Blaine made them sandwiches. Rose grabbed her babysitter's present and ran to her room to 'wrap' it (aka roll it up in Christmas wrapping paper and stick tape all over it). Blaine was surprised when his phone rang, and he hurried top pick it up.

"Hello?" he asked.

_"Hello, my name is Jason Anderson; I received a call from this number last night."_ The voice on the line said.

Blaine almost dropped the phone. "Oh! Yeah, um, hi." His heart was pounding. How was he going to explain this? "Uncle Jason, it's… It's Blaine. Blaine Anderson."

Blaine heard a crash, and apparently his uncle did drop the phone. "Hello? Uncle Jason? Are you there?"

He heart the phone being hastily picked up, and footsteps thundering up stairs. _"Miranda! Miranda! It's Blaine! Blaine's on the phone!"_

"What?" he heard his aunt's shrill reply. "Are you sure?"

_"You think I don't know my own nephew's voice?"_ he heard his uncle say,_ "Of course I'm sure!"_

_"Give me the phone!"_ the voice demanded,_ "Blaine? Blaine, dear, are you there?"_

"Yeah, Aunt Miranda. I'm here. It's me." Blaine smiled.

_"Oh thank the good lord. Blaine, sweetie how are you? What are you doing? Where are you? Where did you disappear to? Are you okay? Do you need help? Are you—"_ her husband cut her off.

_"Let the poor boy speak, Miranda!"_

Blaine grinned. "I'm good, great actually."

_"What's been going on with you, Blaine? How have you been the last few years?"_ his aunt asked.

Blaine smiled to himself. "It's kind of a long story, but I'll try to give you the crash-course. I went to college in LA before coming back to Lima pursuing a teaching job at a private school here. I adopted a daughter, one of my friend's children before she was in an accident, and we're doing great the two of us." Blaine took a deep breath, "How have you too been?"

_"We've been amazing! Ryan, well, you wouldn't know him. Remember how we couldn't come to your graduation or the funeral because I was pregnant? Well that's Ryan. And our daughter Samantha. We're all doing well. Still in the same house that you came and visited when you were so young; eight, maybe? Well, anyway, we're doing good."_ She finished.

It took Blaine a moment before he realized he should reply. "That's great! I'm glad you're all doing so well." After a short pause, he spoke up again. "Auntie Miranda, I'm really sorry I left without saying anything to you guys."

She sighed. _"It's alright, Blaine dear. I'm just glad you're okay. We, that is, Jason and I, thought you had… Well, the idea seems silly now."_

"Killed myself?" Blaine asked hesitantly, yet bluntly, "yes, well, that was one of my plans. One that luckily didn't come through."

_"Well, yes. That's what we thought. But we never blamed you dear."_ Miranda admitted bluntly. _"But then again, who could blame us for thinking it?"_ she asked, _"you disappeared with no words or anything after the funeral."_

"I know." Blaine said, "And I'm really sorry about that." The two (three; it seemed Blaine was on speaker phone with his aunt and uncle) were silent for a minute. "So tell me about Ryan and Samantha."

Miranda (with some interjections from Jason) absolutely gushed about their two kids. It seemed they had been doing extremely well lately. "Oh no, Blaine, I have a brilliant beyond brilliant idea!" Miranda exclaimed, sounding like the aunt she always had been, "How would you and little Rose say about the four of us coming down for a visit this summer?"

Blaine grinned, even though he knew they couldn't see it. "That would be amazing, Aunt Miranda. I would love to see you and Uncle Jason again, and I'd love to meet Ryan and Samantha."

The three talked for a few more minutes while Rose waited patiently in the kitchen for her father's attention. When he hung up the phone, he turned to her. "What's up, little missy?"

"I finished wrapping Miss Carrie's present!" she held it up.

Blaine smiled, "It looks beautiful, love. She'll love it." And honestly, it didn't look half bad. Carrie would easily be able to tell it was Rose's handiwork, but it looked nice nonetheless. "Why don't you set it under the tree until she gets here tomorrow evening?"

Rose smiled at her father and did as she was told. Blaine set his phone down on the table and wandered into the living room and turned on the TV, flipping through the channels until he found a children's Christmas movie that he thought Rose would like.

But twenty minutes later, when she didn't emerge from the kitchen, Blaine knew something was up. "Rosie?" he asked. "Whatcha doing in there, love?"

He didn't hear a reply so he headed to look for her. She wasn't in the kitchen, but he walked down the hall and heard talking from her room. Assuming she was having a tea party with her stuffed animals or something, he stayed for a bit to listen.

"No, he doesn't." she said. Then there was a pause. "But I don't want to give daddy his phone back!" Another pause. "I don't want him to be mad at me for calling you… Because I think my daddy's still sad." There was another pause. "He misses you an awful lot. But I miss you too, Mr. Kurt. You made my daddy happy and I liked that. I know you two got in a fight, but it's be really nice if you two made up. I know my daddy would love that a lot."

Blaine chose that moment to enter the room. "Hey sweetie." He said. "Can I have the phone back?"

She shook her head violently. "No!"

"And why not?" Blaine asked softly.

Rose started crying. "Because I want you and Mr. Kurt to be friends again." She whispered.

Blaine collected her into his arms in a tight embrace. "Oh sweetie, it's okay. Don't cry. Mr. Kurt and I can try to work things out, would that make you feel better?" she nodded. "Okay, then we'll try. I can't promise anything, but we'll try."

Rose nodded and let Blaine lead her to the living room to watch the end of Frosty the Snowman. "Are you still there?" Blaine asked into the phone.

Kurt's musical laugh made his heart break for the millionth time. _"Yeah, I'm still here."_

Blaine sighed a sigh of relief. "Good. I'm glad."

_"And why's that?" _He imagined Kurt cocking his head sideways, as if confused by Blaine's words.

Blaine sighed again. "Because Rose is right. I miss you. A lot."

_"Good."_ Kurt said. _"Because I miss you too. And not for the reasons that I said that first time, at your school. I don't miss you just because I want someone to hang out with. I miss you because of you. And I miss Rose."_

Blaine smiled. "Well she misses you quite a bit as well." He heard Kurt sniffle. "Don't cry. This isn't your fault. I was an asshole."

Kurt laughed. _"It is my fault. I shouldn't never said those things that I said to you. No one should blame you for running away. Besides, it became none of my business when I made that stupid mistake with—"_

Blaine cut him off "No, Kurt. No. Stop. You were eighteen and made a mistake. That has nothing to do with anything." He could hear Kurt crying on the line. "Kurt, I don't blame you for anything. I've been acting like a child."

_"But I still feel bad for that. And for ignoring you for the rest of the year."_ Blaine heard him take a deep breath. _"I'm sorry that when you ran, I didn't follow you. I'm sorry that when you fell, I wasn't there to catch you, or at least help you back up. I'm sorry that I disregarded anything that might have happened to you because I thought running away wasn't the answer."_

"Running away wasn't the answer." Blaine muttered.

_"But that's irrelevant because nothing overlooks the way I treated you from the time we were eighteen to now. No one, especially someone who went through what you did, deserves to be treated that way."_ Kurt said passionately.

Blaine shrugged. "But you didn't know that was going to happen to me. No one knew."

He heard Kurt sigh. _"No, but that doesn't mean anything. That was the biggest mistake of my life. And that includes wasting two years of my life at a college, training for a job I wasn't even going to pursue."_

Blaine smiled. "Well, you got back on track and so did I. And for some reason, we can't seem to stay away from each other."

_"That seems to me the case, doesn't it?"_ Kurt laughed.

Blaine smiled. "Yeah, it does. So why do we keep trying?"

Kurt giggled and Blaine's heart melted. _"I don't know."_

Blaine took a deep, calming breath. Kurt wanted their friendship just as much as he did. "Maybe we shoudn't."

As soon as Kurt took a breath to speak, Blaine let out his, hoping for the best. _"Maybe we shoudn't."_

* * *

I gotta say, guys posting a story gets a bit difficult when your computer refuses to turn on... I don't know what's wrong with it, but I got into this weird set-up program and backed up my files (except now I can't figure out how to access them on the drive they're on) and now I'm doing a complete system factory restore... So let's hope that will at least get it turned on so I can figure out how to get my files back on it. I'm currently on my mom's laptop and luckily I sent so much of this story to Itzel and Carrie that have this chapter! It's a little less edited that the others, but I'll do my best :) Thanks for all of your support on this story, guys. I really appreciate it.


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Blaine and Rose were on the floor of their living room playing their seventh round of Candyland of the day when Blaine's cell phone rang. "Hello?" he asked.

"Hey Blaine Warbler." Kurt's teasing voice greeted him.

Blaine grinned. "I think you may have the wrong number. There are no Warblers here. Just a former Warbler-Titan-Leopard and a current Pirate."

Kurt snorted. "Pirates?"

Blaine rolled his eyes. "I'll have you know that 'Pirates' are in the top forty of high school mascots in the United States."

Kurt continued to snicker. "So you're _still_ top forty." He commented. By now, Rose had wandered off to her room to have a tea party with her stuffed animals, the board game forgotten.

"I didn't choose the mascot!" Blaine insisted, "It was already there!"

"So I guess your old eye patches are coming in handy." Kurt laughed.

Blaine snorted. "Actually, yeah. Remember the heart one that I wore on Valentines day? Last year the star basketball player wore on the day of their Valentines day basketball game."

"You still have it?" Kurt asked, amazed. "You've moved across country twice since then."

Blaine shrugged before remembering Kurt couldn't see. "Yeah, well, I kept some things." He knew that he and Kurt were _both_ thinking about a certain shoebox. They were silent for a moment.

"So. Leopards. Where did you go to college? I know it was in southern California, but where?" Kurt asked.

"University of La Verne." Blaine said. "It's about forty-five minutes from LA." Blaine made his way to his own bedroom and lay down on the bed.

Kurt was quiet for a bit, then Blaine heard him laugh. "Hey, so you know how I knew you had a 4.0 in college?" Kurt asked.

Blaine laughed. "Yeah, I'm still curious how you know." Blaine rolled from his back to his stomach, grabbing a magazine from his bed side table and flipped through it. And yet again, he found himself feeling seventeen-or at least acting like he had when he was seventeen.

"Never mind that." Kurt said. "How did you do it with Rose? I mean, how did you raise a baby _and_ go to school?"

Blaine laughed. "I didn't sleep. That's how. Rose was three months old at the time, so I ended up studying until midnight and then waking up three or four hours later when Rose cried, fed and burped her, studied some more, changed her diaper, and slept for another three or four hours. When I woke up I did the same thing again, and then studied until class. I usually sat in the back near the door of classes where the professors allowed me to bring Rose, and asked my old dean to watch her during the classes where she wasn't allowed. That was my junior year, but in my senior year she was sleeping much better and in daycare while I was in class."

"Why did you decide to move back to Lima?" Kurt asked.

"Because I had a job here." Blaine shrugged. "I had double majored in early childhood education and secondary education, with a minor in history. One of my teachers really identified with me and liked me, and was _sure_ I'd be a good teacher, so he really stuck his neck out until he found me 'the perfect job.' Because ELA is a private school, they didn't make me go through all the student teaching stuff, although I was an aid during some summer classes the summer before I started working. Also, since I didn't have to have my degree in high school history education, they let me teach anyway as long as I was working towards it. I have it now, though."

"And what about Glee club? How did you get into that?" Kurt teased.

"What, are you stalking me or something?" Blaine laughed.

Kurt giggled. "I have connections."

"That," Blaine began to explain, "Was a complete accident. One of the teachers who has been working there for seventeen years was a show choir fan, and used to go to all the competitions in the area. She recognized me, told the school board, and together we started a Glee club. I do most of the singing and assignments while she does costumes and choreography. I sit in the audience for support and she preps them back stage—I don't do well helping them de-stress before a performance and she's_ great_ at it."

Kurt laughed. "So when's your guys' next competition?"

"February 12." Blaine said, "Regionals."

"I hope you guys win." Kurt said.

Blaine rolled his eyes. "We won't."

"And why not?" Kurt asked.

"We're going up against McKinley. Mr. Schue is still their director, and he's so experienced and has some really great kids this year."

Kurt scoffed. "That means nothing. You can do it. Don't go into it saying you can't."

"Good point." Blaine laughed. "Alright. We'll give it out best shot."

"Better." Kurt giggled. The two were silent for a few moments, and Blaine could faintly hear the sound of pencils scratching on paper. "So, are you working?"

"Kind of." Kurt said. "I don't have anything due soon, and this one is just for fun, but I might eventually turn it in if I think they would go for it. I swear, my job feels more like school than anything else."

"I know how that feels." Blaine laughed.

"So, there's a reason I called. Besides that I just miss talking to you." Kurt admitted. When Blaine didn't reply, he went on. "My family, that is Carole, my dad, Finn, Rachel, Rachel's dads, and I are doing this party type thing on New Years Eve tomorrow night. Do you want to come?"

"I'm not sure I should. I mean, Carrie is working that night and Rose shouldn't stay out past midnight, and it's your family thing and I don't want to intrude." Blaine stuttered.

"Rachel already has planned on you bringing Rose and letting her fall asleep in her dads' guest room. And you won't be intruding—everyone in my family _loves_ you. They all asked me to invite you and Rose."

Blaine sighed dramatically. "Well, if you insist."

"I do." Kurt assured."

"Then Rose and I will be there. What time?" Blaine couldn't hide his grin.

"Six-thirty sound good? We're having dinner and then just hanging out until the ball drops." Kurt explained. "Rachel will probably force you to sing with her at one point, though."

Blaine laughed. "We'll see."

Blaine couldn't see it, but Kurt was grinning ear to ear as well. "I can't wait."

* * *

Blaine drove to the Berry's house and rang the doorbell. There were three cars parked out front—Burt's, Finn's, and Rachel's dads', so Blaine assumed he was either the last one to get there or no one in the Hudson-Hummel-Berry clan knew how to carpool.

Blaine and Rose headed to the door and knocked. A breathless Kurt Hummel and a red faced Rachel Berry answered the door. "Hey Blaine!" Kurt greeted as Rachel said, "Hi Rose!"

Rose tugged on her daddy's shirt. "I think they raced to the door to see us." She whispered.

Blaine laughed. "I think so too, honey." Rachel nodded as Kurt scowled at her. The four headed downstairs, with Rachel occupying all of Rose's attention. Blaine heard Rachel ask Rose if she liked to sing before he turned back to Kurt.

"Hey." Blaine smiled.

"Hello." Kurt replied, smiling back.

"Remind me again why we don't know how to stay mad at each other?" Blaine winked.

Kurt giggled. "Because of destiny."

Blaine laughed. "That's not cheesy at all."

"Cheesier than easy cheese on a cheese-it." Kurt declared as he grinned. Before Blaine could reply, he saw (and heard) Rachel and Rose on the stage in the Berry's basement singing a song from one of the most recent Disney movies.

"Rachel Berry is corrupting my daughter." Blaine said plainly.

"With Disney?" Kurt teased.

"No," Blaine held back a giggle, "with her diva-ness, love of performing, and obsession with self." The two laughed as Rose strutted across the stage with pink sparkly microphone in hand. "Told you." Blaine said. Kurt glanced at Blaine and Blaine glanced back. The two smiled at each other for a second, before looking back at the duo on stage.

The rest of the night went on fairly well. Rose found out that she _loved_ singing, but loved listening to her daddy sing with Mr. Kurt or Miss Rachel even more. Around ten, she fell asleep from the couch and Blaine, after commenting on how he was surprised that she made it that long, carried her to the guest room.

Everyone talked, ate snacks, and played games until it was eleven. Then they turned on the TV to watch the festivities in Times Square. Rachel and Kurt gushed on about how, their second year in New York, they actually went to Times Square and had a relatively good seat. At 12:59.50, they watched the ball drop. Kurt and Blaine stared at the ground awkwardly as Hiram and Leroy, Carole and Burt, and Rachel and Finn exchange New Years kisses.

Then Rachel decided to start a movie. After checking to make sure Rose was still asleep, Blaine opted to join them for the movie. Or he would have, had Kurt not started throwing up half way through the movie.

"You guys watch your movie." Blaine said. "I'll take him home—I need to get Rosie home anyway."

"Are you sure?" Burt asked, "I can take him."

"No, it's fine." Blaine insisted. "You stay and watch the movie. I'll get these two to bed." Blaine motioned to the hall where Kurt was in the bathroom and Rose was sleeping.

Burt muttered a 'thank you' and everyone turned back to the movie. Blaine headed to the bathroom and helped a clammy, sweaty, and pale Kurt Hummel into his car. Then he carried Rose out and buckled her into her car seat.

"Are you sure you're okay, Kurt?" Blaine asked for probably the seventeenth time.

"I'm fine. I probably just caught the stomach bug my dad got a couple days ago. Turn there." He pointed to an apartment complex and Blaine turned into it. He watched as Kurt tried to stumble towards the door and hurried to steady him. Blaine took Rose out of her car seat, locked the car door, and helped Kurt into his apartment.

After Rose was asleep on the couch and Kurt was in his bed, Blaine sat on the bed next to a still very sick-looking Kurt.. "Is there anything I can get for you?" Kurt told him where medicine was, and asked for a glass of water. Blaine grabbed him everything, only for him to throw it up a few minutes later. Rose was already happy and asleep on the couch, and Kurt was in no shape to be alone. Blaine supposed it wouldn't hurt to stay an hour or so…

* * *

"Daddy?" Rose whispered. "Daddy wake up."

Blaine shook his head to wake up his half asleep mind, and found that it hurt his neck to do that. Then he saw that he had fallen asleep sitting up. 'No wonder I'm so sore.' He thought. He glanced over to see Kurt sleeping peacefully beside him, and still looked a little paler than usual. But despite being sick, he was still so incredibly beautiful. Probably even more gorgeous than he had been in high school, if that was even possible.

"Daddy, where are we?" Rose asked, bringing Blaine back to the present.

"We're at Kurt's house. You fell asleep at the Berry's house last night, and then Kurt got sick so I brought him here. But he was too sick to be left alone so we stayed the night." Blaine explained, as if staying the night had been the original plan.

Why are you guys sleeping in the same bed?" she asked. "Did one of you have a bad dream?"

"No, I'm here because I was up taking care of him and I accidentally fell asleep." Blaine said. "Do you want to get home, sweetie?"

Rose's eyes widened. "Is he still sick, Daddy?"

Blaine felt Kurt's forehead. "He still has a little bit of a fever, but I don't know how sick he's feeling since he's sleeping."

"Should we wake him up and ask how he's feeling?" Rose asked.

Blaine shook his head. "No, he needs to sleep if he's feeling sick."

"Then I don't want to go home. We have to wait until he wakes up to see if he's feeling better." Rose said definitely.

"Then let's see what Kurt has in his house for breakfast." Blaine said. He and his daughter walked out of Kurt's room and into the kitchen. Blaine opened a few cupboards until he found things to make pancakes and scrambled eggs. Blaine set the food on the table and started putting food on Rose's plate.

When Kurt walked in, he was sure he was still dreaming. In his kitchen was Blaine and a little girl that looked like him, talking and giggling together, eating breakfast. When the little girl saw Kurt, she beamed at him and seeing his daughter's grin, Blaine turned as well. When Blaine saw Kurt, he smiled brightly at him as well. Smiling back, confused, Kurt convinced himself that this was his mind torturing him, showing his what could have happened if he hadn't been so stupid in college.

"How are you feeling?" Blaine asked. "I made breakfast if you're feeling up to it."

Kurt smiled again, remembering the events of last night and finally admitting this was real—but Blaine wasn't his. '_The dream was better._' He thought. "I'm feeling a little better. I'll try to eat something."

Blaine grabbed a plate and put food on it, setting it in front of Kurt. "I'll have you know, Rose was _very_ concerned about you. She wouldn't leave this house until you woke up to make sure you were feeling better."

Kurt turned his attention to Rose. "I'm feeling a lot better. A lot thanks to your dad, though."

Rose nodded. "He takes good care of sick people. I would know. He and Miss Carrie are the only ones who have ever taken care of me when I'm sick, and he _always_ does a good job."

Kurt and Blaine laughed. "Well his perfect record is still in tact." Kurt glanced at Blaine, who was laughing a little uncomfortably. "When do you guys go back to school?" Kurt asked.

"The sixth; next Wednesday." Blaine said.

"Perfect." Kurt said. "There's a Winter Fair in Westerville on the second through the fifth. Do you two want to go on Monday?"

"Oh can we Daddy? Can we?" Rose begged.

Blaine laughed at his daughter's enthusiasm. "Of course we can go, sweetie." Blaine said, before and shooting Kurt a playful glare that said '_I know you asked me in front of her so I couldn't say no_.'

Kurt just winked back. "I'll pick you up Monday morning."

* * *

I'm not sure if I'll have internet access next weekend since I'll be camping in South Carolina for a family reunion. And then I'm going to Arkansas for another family thing, and then Tennessee for these meeting thingies my parents have to go to. So I'll be gone for sixteen days and I'm not sure when I'll have internet in those sixteen days. So the next two chapters will be put up but I'm not sure exactly when... Maybe I'll find a Starbucks and put them up (:

And my computer is still broken. I don't have any of my stuff from the computer back yet, and it randomly turns itself off every couple minutes... But I found a bunch of stuff that I'd emailed to friends, and while it's less edited than I may have liked, I have it back which makes me seriously happy. So. Yay!


	13. Chapter 12

Look guys! I actually managed to get on the internet! And it's Saturday, which is the day I usually aim to post on. I know I keep saying this and I appologize, but it's not as edited at the others, seeing as I haven't been on a computer since Tuesday morning. But I'll shut up and let you read now. :)

* * *

**Chapter 12**

Blaine sighed and rolled over in bed. Today was the day that he was supposed to play at the café, and Carrie was out of town for the weekend. Sighing, he grabbed his phone and called Kurt's number.

"Hello. This is Kurt Hummel speaking. Why the hell is Blaine Anderson calling me before eight o'clock on a Saturday?" Kurt said, sounding tired.

"Did I wake you up? I'm sorry." Blaine said.

"I suppose I deserve to be woken up at any odd hour every night for the rest of my life for the way I treated you. So no harm done. What's up?" Kurt laughed.

"You should really stop bringing that up." Blaine muttered. "I'm over it, I swear." He sighed again. "Can you do me a huge favor?"

"Anything." Kurt said. "What do you need?"

"Carrie's out of town and I have to go out tonight. Could you come and watch Rose for me around six?" Blaine asked.

"Playing at the café again?" Kurt asked. "Of course I'll come. I'd love to spend the evening with my favorite little girl."

"It's a good thing Rachel and Finn are having a boy, huh?" Blaine laughed. "Well, I have to go. Rose just woke up. I'll see you tonight?"

"Yep!" Kurt said, "I'll see you tonight."

The rest of the day went fairly smoothly. He and Rose made sugar cookies with some left over Christmas cookie dough. Rose decided to make cookie people with her dough, and made a whole cookie family. Afterward, she and Blaine decorated the cookies.

"These ones are me and Riley." Rose said, scooting two smaller cookie people towards Blaine. "And this one is you!" she showed him a taller cookie. "This one is Mis Carrie, and this one is Mr. Kurt." She showed him two other cookies. "And we're a cookie family!" she exclaimed.

Blaine smiled. "Why don't you save those and show them to Kurt tonight?"

Her eyes lit up. "That's a great idea! I can't wait until Mr. Kurt comes over tonight, Daddy! It's going to be so much fun!"

"Are you going to be a good girl and go to sleep without me or Miss Carrie here?" he asked.

"Yes." Rose said. "Because Mr. Kurt reads me a story, and he sits in my bed with me when I ask him."

Blaine laughed, since Kurt had only tucked her in once, but he knew just as much as she did, that Kurt would do anything for her. Just like he would. Just like Carrie would. "I like your cookie family." Blaine said. "Why did you choose Riley, me, Carrie, and Kurt?"

"Because you're my best friends." She said, playing with her cookie people. "And I want cookie me to have her best friends with her so she doesn't feel lonely. And then when Riley has to be with her parents, or Daddy is with Miss Carrie, or when Miss Carrie is at work, or when Daddy is with Mr. Kurt, I always have someone to play with. Like person me!"

Blaine laughed and kissed her cheek, helping her off the counter. "What do you say you and me go out to lunch? We can go to that sandwich place you like." Blaine offered.

Rose's eyes lit up like they always did when she was excited. "Really, Daddy? I love that place!"

"I know." Blaine grinned, handing his daughter her jacket. Do you want to go now, or are you not hungry yet?"

"Now. I'm _starving_ Daddy." She said, sliding her arms into the sleeves of her jacket and her feet into her shoes. She waited semi-patiently by the door until Blaine was ready to go. He helped her buckle into her car seat before heading to the front of the car. After eating their sandwiches, Blaine took his daughter to an ice cream place near by.

"This day has been so much fun, Daddy." Rose said, hugging his arm as they walked out to the car. "I love you, Daddy."

Blaine smiled down at her. "I love you too, sweetheart. So much."

* * *

Kurt showed up at six pm on the dot. Blaine opened the door and smiled. "Hey, Kurt."

Kurt grinned. "Hello, Blaine." Rose came running from the living room where she had been coloring. "Hey there Rose!"

"Mr. Kurt! Mr. Kurt!" she grabbed his hand and started pulling him towards the kitchen. "Look at the cookies Daddy and I made this morning!"

Blaine watched as she explained each cookie to Kurt. After a few minutes, she got bored and went back to her coloring. "Okay." Blaine began to explain, "The numbers for the café, my cell, the café owner's cell, both of her California grandparents' numbers, and Carrie's cell phone are on this list on the fridge. There's lasagna in the oven for dinner and it should be done in about fifteen minutes. Her bed time is usually somewhere between seven thirty and eight, but she didn't nap very well today so she'll probably be tired sooner. I should be home around midnight, if not a little before. After she falls asleep, feel free to do whatever you want. If you need me for anything just call me and I'll be home as soon as I can get here."

Kurt laughed. "Calm down, Blaine. I'll take great care of her. We'll have fun! Maybe we'll play a game, or watch a movie, or put a puzzle together or something. We'll have fun!"

Blaine smiled and grabbed his jacket and keys. "I'll be home before twelve." He promised, heading out the door. Right before the door closed, he turned to see Kurt, looking so beautiful, sitting in his kitchen. Within arms length, yet still out of reach. Blaine sighed sadly and turned back to the car.

He really needed to stop feeling that way about Kurt. All these feelings that were being resurfaced needed to go away.

Since Blaine had left early, he arrived at the café with a couple minutes to spare and spent the extra time tuning his instruments to as perfect as he could get them. He looked out and, while he saw much of his usual crowd, there were many new faces—he assumed that everyone was here visiting family for Christmas and New Years.

"Hey there, everybody." He welcomed. "So to all the unfamiliar faces, I'll be here from seven to eleven thirty—and then I have to get home to take care of my four year old monster, I mean, daughter." Some people laughed. "So, how this works is I play a few songs, and then I take requests. Write your request on the pieces of paper that you can get from any employee, write the song on it, and a dedication if you want, and I'll draw a song," he flipped off his hat, "out of this."

In the back of the room, Blaine saw a very pregnant brunette in the corner of his eye. "So," he said, slightly distracted at seeing _Rachel_, "I guess here we go."

After a few moments of silence, Blaine went into the opening song that he chose on nights like this—when he couldn't get his past off his mind. '_It doesn't help that you're willingly asking a part of it into your life. Kurt will forever remind you of the worst year of your life, because he unknowingly started it._' Blaine sighed at himself and started the song.

_I'm lying alone with my head on the phone_

_Thinking of you till it hurts_

_I know you hurt too but what else can we do_

_Tormented and torn apart_

Blaine sighed before smiling at the crowd. "This next artist was one of my all time favorites in high school—some of you might recognize it." He smiled to himself when he saw the faces light up in recognition at the introduction. He found himself laughing at the song—whether it was the irony that Miss Katy Perry would write a song that seemed just for him, or that he was just having _fun_.

_All this money can't buy me a time machine_

_Can't replace you with a million rings_

_I should've told you what you meant to me_

_Cause now I pay the price_

_And in another life_

_I would be your girl_

_We'd keep all out promises_

_Be us against the world_

_And in another life_

_I would make you stay_

_So I don't have to say_

_You were the one that got away_

_The one that got away_

He thought he saw Rachel frown in the back, but shrugged it off. Throughout the show, amidst different requests and dedications, Blaine squeezed in high school favorites of his—Adele (_Rolling in the Deep_ and _Someone Like You_), Christina Perri (_Jar of Hearts_), and Taylor Swift (_I'd Lie_).

It was eleven twenty nine when he decided to play his last song. Blaine bit his lower lip, sighed, and started to play the intro chords. "This song is one I've never played, but had always wanted to. It represented everything for me—having to say good bye to my brother at fourteen, and my boyfriend at seventeen, losing my grandparents, parents, and sister at eighteen, my best friend at twenty." Blaine paused and looked out into the audience. "And no matter what I do or where I go, they'll always be with me, and I'll always be thinking of them."

_Comparisons are easily done_

_Once you've had a taste of perfection_

_Like an apple hanging from a tree_

_I picked the ripest one_

_I still got the seed_

_You said move on_

_Where do I go_

_I guess second best_

_Is all I will know_

_Cause when I'm with him_

_I am thinking of you_

_Thinking of you_

_What you would do if_

_You were the one_

_Who was spending the night_

_Oh I wish that I_

_Was looking into your eyes_

_You're like an Indian summer_

_In the middle of winter_

_Like a hard candy_

_With a surprise center_

_How do I get better_

_Once I've had the best_

_You said there's_

_Tons of fish in the water_

_So the waters I will test_

_He kissed my lips_

_I taste your mouth_

_He pulled me in_

_I was disgusted with myself_

_Cause when I'm with him_

_I am thinking of you_

_Thinking of you_

_What you would do if_

_You were the one _

_Who was spending the night_

_Oh I wish that I_

_Was looking into_

_You're the best_

_And yes I do regret_

_How I could let myself_

_Let you go_

_Now the lesson's learned_

_I touched it I was burned_

_Oh I think you should know_

_Cause when I'm with him_

_I am thinking of you_

_Thinking of you_

_What you would do if_

_You were the one_

_Who was spending the night_

_Oh I wish that I_

_Was looking into your eyes_

_Looking into your eyes_

_Looking into your eyes_

_Oh won't you walk through_

_And bust in the door_

_And take me away_

_Oh no more mistakes_

_Cause in your eyes I'd like to stay_

* * *

Blaine packed up his stuff and walked out to the parking lot to put his guitar in his car. He leaned over and rested his head against the door frame. After he'd finished the last song, the room had been dead quiet. Everyone had known about his past (minus the Kurt and Jayden parts) but he'd never addressed it in front of anyone—not even Carrie.

And everyone had remained quiet as he packed up his stuff in a daze, everyone either afraid or unwilling to break the silence. He waved good bye to the café owner, who was smiling at him sadly, and as soon as he was out the door Blaine heard the buzz of talking immediately start.

He was about to get into his car and head home when he heard someone behind him. "Blaine, wait!"

He turned and saw Rachel running towards him. Ignoring the fact that her swollen stomach wouldn't let her pull him in too close, Rachel wrapped her arms around Blaine's neck and hugged him. Then she stepped back and hit his chest.

"Ow!" he exclaimed, "What was that for?"

"For being an absolute idiot!" she cried.

"Okay, yeah, I know I'm an idiot. That's not new news. What did I do, exactly?" Blaine asked, rubbing his chest. Damn, that girl could hit hard.

"You wouldn't let anyone near you for months after you and Kurt broke up. You didn't tell anyone you were being bullied in high school until you ended up in the hospital. When your family died you just upped and ran away, leaving everyone behind. When you got a baby you ran off again and wouldn't let anyone help raise her. I'm not sure if you have trust issues, have a need to be incredibly self sufficient, are selfish, are just stupid, or all of the above!" she said.

Blaine was shell shocked. The only person who was willing to talk to him this way was hours away in Florida. He just stared at her.

"It's like you don't even _pretend_ to act like you care about other people. It's not like you're the only person who has had a tough life. Look, Blaine. Yeah. Your life sucks. It's worse than most people would ever dream up, it's more than people would wish on their worst enemy, and it's more than anyone should ever have to go through. But you know what? It happened. Almost eight years ago. Deal with it. Get over it. Move on. It happened, and there's nothing you can do to change it.

"You're so afraid of losing things you've already lost, that you stop yourself from moving on. Self sufficiency isn't going to bring you eighteen year old self back. Pushing everyone out of your life isn't going to bring your family back. Refusing to let people into your life isn't going to bring Rose's mother back. Maybe you should stop letting fear push you away and into moping about how you can't get what you want, and reach in there and take what you need."

Rachel reached up on her toes to kiss Blaine on the cheek before turning off and climbing into her car. Blaine took a deep breath, got in his car, and drove home. Kurt and Rose were cuddling on the couch, asleep, and Blaine didn't have the heart or energy to wake them so he covered them in a blanket before walking back to his bedroom.

Then he pulled out his phone and called his speed dial number two. It rang three times before a voice picked up. "_Hello?"_

"Hey, Carrie. It's Blaine."

"_Is everything okay?_" she asked.

"Yeah, everything's fine. I just. I know you're in Florida with your family, but I really needed to talk to you." Blaine muttered.

"_Of course. You know I'm always here for you. What do you need?_" She asked.

"Well, I haven't always been completely honest with you. I mean, you know vaguely that I had trouble in high school with bullies, that I lost my best friends in high school and college, and I lost my family the summer after high school." Carrie made a noise to indicate she knew what he was talking about. "I haven't told anyone, not even my therapists, everything. And I really want you to know." Blaine sighed. This was going to be difficult.

"_Of course, honey. I'm here to listen._"

Blaine took a deep breath. "it all started when I was fourteen, and had just come out…"

* * *

South Carolina is fun-but soooooo so humid. My hair has lost it's ability to de-frizz. But that's okay cause I get it from my dad's side of the family, so we all have frizzy crazy hair! And my uncle has been kind enough to let me use the internet on his phone, which is why this has noot been edited very well at all. I WILL go back over it when I have internet next week, but I wanted to try to get this up.

I do have a quesiton though. Tuesday morning while driving to the airport, I wrote a silly and short drabble about Jayden and Blaine and how they named Rose. And I was wondering if you wanted to read it! I can either post it as it's own mini-chapter sometime midweek (Wednesday, maybe...?) or I can just hook it on the end of next week's chapter, or I can post it on my Tumblr and give you the link, or you don't have to care about reading it at all! Just wondering what you guys were intereted in! Let me know! And thanks for reading-you guys are seriously amazing, you have no idea.


	14. Bonus Drabble: Rose

Soooo. ThIis is a little drabble I wrote of Jay and Blaine naming Rose. It's very short, but it's kinda a bonus chapter. Also: Happy Wednesday from Alabama! Even though it's nearly Thursday on the east coast... Ah well. Enjoy!

* * *

**Rose**

"Oh my god Blaine, I can't believe it. This is so exciting!" Jayden said. Ecstatic was an understatement when describing the look on his best friend's face, yet Blaine's smile was hesitated and guarded.

Jayden's face fell slightly. "Blaine Anderson don't give me that look."

Blaine shrugged helplessly. "I can't help it. You were so upset about this a couple weeks ago, and now you're acting like it's the best thing that could ever happen to you."

"Don't be silly," Jayden said, kissing Blaine on the cheek. "You know that _you're_ the best thing to ever happen to me, but this is a possible second."

Blaine rolled his eyes. "Jay, I'm being serious. I don't understand how you could completely change your attitude about this in just a few days."

"I can't change what happened, and dwelling on it and being upset about it isn't going to help," Jayden looked up at Blaine with tears in her eyes. "It's always going to hurt, but I'm not going to let that stop me from being excited about her."

Blaine knew the look on Jayden's face-the look that told him she was trying to put on a brave mask for those around her; yet he still nodded. "Okay."

"Okay? That's all you're going to say?" She demanded.

"I'm sorry, I know this is difficult and I know I'm not helping," he sighed. "I just hate seeing you hurt over something that you already love so much."

"She didn't hurt me," Jayden said passionately, "Some other asshole hurt me and she's what I get out of it." Blaine couldn't help but smile at how seamlessly Jay used the pronoun 'she.' After all, they'd only found out the baby was a girl a couple minutes ago.

"You're not having second thoughts, are you?" she looked quizzically at him.

"No!" Blaine insisted, "Never. I love you and I love her and I'm always going to be there for both of you. Forever." He leaned down until his face was leveled with Jayden's barely swollen belly. "So you better get used to me, sweetheart."

Jayden giggled and took Blaine's hand. "Come on, let's get out of here." The two walked out of the doctor's office to where Blaine's car was parked outside.

"So," Blaine said conversationally, "what are you thinking about naming her?"

"Nuh uh," Jay shook her head, "Not _I_, what are _we_ going to name her? If she's going to be yours too, then you get to help me name her."

"Alright." he laughed, "what are the different names you like?"

Jay crossed her arms and bit her lip (a habit Blaine had long ago picked up from her). "I'm not sure. I have a list of names back in the apartment. I can show you, if you'd like." She paused and her face lit up, "Or you can make your own and we can compare and see if any overlap and pick one from that! Yes. Blaine, that's what we're doing."

Blaine rolled his eyes and help back a grin. "Okay. I actually kind of already have a list."

"Actually kind of?" Jayden teased.

"Shut up," Blaine muttered.

She laughed. "When did you make it?"

"Years ago, actually," Blaine said. "I've had a list of my favorite baby names since I was six. Obviously it's changed a bit since then."

When they arrived back at their apartment, Jayden insisted Blaine write down with top ten baby names while she wrote down hers. "And meet me in the kitchen in fifteen minutes."

Blaine laughed , grabbed an old receipt out of his wallet, and numbered it one to ten. He got to six before he ran out of names from his previous lists and it got difficult. Blaine looked down at his completed list and sighed, hoping he and Jayden would at least agree on a couple of them.

_1. Natalie_

_2. Lauren_

_3. Samantha_

_4. Rose_

_5. Chloe_

_6. Miranda_

_7. Emma_

_8. Morgan_

_9. Veronica_

_10. Sarah_

A few minutes later, Blaine found himself sitting at their small kitchen table across from his exuberant-looking best friend. "You're pregnant," Blaine muttered grouchily, "aren't you supposed to be moody and stuff?"

Jayden laughed. "Guess not. Okay. Give me your list." Blaine reluctantly handed his over and grabbed the one she handed him.

_1. Courtney_

_2. Rose_

_3. Kelsey_

_4. Elizabeth_

_5. Claire_

_6. Sarah_

_7. Taylor_

_8. Miranda_

_9. Kara_

_10. Jennifer_

"So we both like Rose, Miranda, and Sara," Jayden observed, "and I really like Emma and Lauren from yours-I didn't even think of them."

"And I really Like Kelsey and Claire from yours," Blaine replied.

On a fresh piece of paper Jayden wrote,

_1. Rose_

_2. Miranda_

_3. Sarah_

_4. Emma_

_5. Lauren _

_6. Kelsey_

_7. Claire_

"Do you like any of these for a middle name rather than first?" Blaine asked.

Jayden stared at the list for a moment. "Miranda, Sarah, Claire, and Kelsey."

Blaine crossed out those four and wrote them on their own list on the other side of the paper. "If you had to eliminate one, which would it be?"

"Claire," Jayden said after a long pause. "Your turn."

Blaine stared at the list for a moment. "Sarah. So that leaves Kelsey and Miranda. You pick one-I love them both."

"Miranda," Jayden said definitely. "Not only did we both choose is originally, it's just such a pretty name."

"Sounds great," Blaine said.

Jayden squealed. "Blaine! Our daughter has a middle name!"

Blaine laughed at her ceaseless enthusiasm. "Alright," he said, "so that leaves us with Rose, Emma, and Lauren." Blaine tried to hide his sheepish grin at Rose being in their top three and noticed Jayden wore a similar smile. "What are you smiling about?" he asked.

Jayden bit back a smile and shook her head. "Nothing. Nothing at all."

Blaine looked at her disbelievingly. "I know that look."

"Yeah, 'cause you're wearing the same one!" Jayden protested.

"Which name are _you_ smiling about?" Blaine demanded.

She hesitated, "Rose." She admitted at last, "What about you?"

Blaine blushed. "Same." They both burst out laughing and stared across the table at each other. "What are you embarrassed about?"

Jay bit her lip, grinned, and cocked her head sideways, letting some of her dark hair fall in her face. "Um," she hesitated again, "Doctor Who." Blaine burst out laughing. "Stop laughing at me!" she insisted.

"No, I feel so much less nerdy now." Blaine said quickly, "Because Rose has been on my list since I finished the Harry Potter series." She looked confused. "You know," he explained, "Ron and Hermione's daughter?"

Jay burst out in the same giggles Blaine had earlier. "I think that's worse."

"No way!" Blaine said, "The fact that you want to name your daughter after a TV show about time traveling aliens is definitely nerdier."

Jay shook her head, still holding back giggles. "The fact that you want to name your daughter after two character's daughter is nerdiest."

After a moment trying to compose themselves, Blaine and Jay glanced at each other sheepishly. "Our daughter's name is Rose, isn't it?" Jay asked.

Blaine nodded. "Yeah, I think so. Rose Miranda Richards-Anderson."

He couldn't hold back his smile when Jayden squealed again.

* * *

See ya'll sometime this weekend! Hopefully I'll have internet Saturday evening! :)


	15. Chapter 13

OMG this is my absolute favorite chapter guys. Like. JFDKLJFAKLS. Favorite. I hope you like it!

* * *

**Chapter 13**

Blaine had dressed Rose in a pair of jeans, yellow and white polka dotted rain boots (with a matching rain jacket and umbrella), and a pink t-shirt with sparkly rain drops and flowers—her absolute _favorite_ winter outfit. By 7:30 am, there was a knock on the door

He shrugged his black rain jacket on (so maybe it was clear right now, but that didn't mean it wouldn't rain later), took Rose's hand in one hand and her car sear in another, and headed for the door.

"Good morning." Kurt smiled at Blaine and Rose.

"Good morning!" Rose said enthusiastically.

"Are you ready for the fair?" Kurt asked.

Rose giggled happily. "Yup! I'm so excited!" she started chattering as she watched Blaine secure her car seat in Kurt's car, before climbing in and buckling herself in. Blaine and Kurt got in the front of the car, and Kurt pulled out of the neighborhood.

The drive to where the fair was being held from Blaine's house, according to google maps, was one hour and fifty-six minutes, but they were pretty sure it wouldn't take that long. They listened to Disney music and played "I Spy" for the first half hour until Rose, who was always put to sleep by car rides, fell asleep. Kurt turned the music down to allow her to sleep.

The two boys were silent for a few minutes as they drove down the highway, the end of 'A Whole New World' playing softly in the background. "This has always been my favorite Disney song, and Disney movie."

"I thought your favorite Disney Princess was Belle." Kurt commented.

"She is." Blaine said, "But just because I like Belle more than Jasmine doesn't mean I can't like _Aladdin_ more than _Beauty and the Beast_." Blaine said in a jokingly serious voice.

Kurt thought about it for a minute. "I suppose that's true. My favorite princess is Ariel, but _Mulan_ is my favorite movie."

Blaine laughed. "That's because baby Kurt thought Shang was hot."

"Not true!" Kurt laughed in return.

"Totally true." Blaine laughed as Kurt blushed. "It's okay, baby Blaine thought the same thing."

Kurt shot him a smile. "And we didn't know we were gay until we were older. Hmph."

Blaine chuckled. "Well, we didn't come out until we were older at any rate."

The two fell into a comfortable silence for the next fifteen minutes or so, listening to Disney music, until they pulled off to the exit for the fairgrounds. Blaine turned around to jostle Rose awake, how immediately continued jabbering about her excitement to be going to the fair.

Rose took her Daddy's and Mr. Kurt's hands into her tiny ones and pulled them towards the fair entrance. Ignoring Blaine's protests, Kurt bought a bunch of tickets for the three of them to use that day at the different fair games and rides.

"Alright little missy." Blaine said, turning to Rose, "Where do you want to go first?"

Rose looked around, seriously contemplating what to see. Since she was barely four, she was still a little short for many of the rides, but Kurt and Blaine knew there was enough for her to do anyway. She glanced up at them and asked, "Can we go to the bumper cars?"

So the three of them headed over to the bumper cars. She climbed into a car with Blaine while Kurt snagged one of the 'one person' cars. Rose and Blaine spent the next five or so minutes in their tiny bumper car, running away from Kurt's who was chasing them. Near the end of their time, Blaine turned and started chasing Kurt. Rose roared with laughter.

Then she wanted to walk through one of the Fun Houses. She giggled as she looked at Blaine through one of the mirrors that makes you look taller ("That's a first." Kurt winked), but was a little scared about walking through the stairs that moved—she was afraid of falling.

"I'll hold your hand the whole way." Kurt told her.

"You promise?" She asked, still unsure.

"I'll never let you fall." Kurt assured the girl. Biting her lower lip (a habit Kurt was sure she picked up from her father), Rose took his hand and gingerly started walking down the stairs. When she made it to the bottom without falling, she turned to hug Kurt's leg tightly.

Blaine smiled softly to himself when he saw the scene. He was glad that his daughter was connecting with someone besides himself and Carrie. Although, he should probably set her up on more play dates with people her age. Besides Riley, who she only saw at preschool and birthday parties, Rose didn't really have anybody her age…

Blaine's train of thought was distracted when Rose came up to him and grabbed his hand. "Daddy, Mr. Kurt said that the roller coaster over there looks fun if I want to try it."

Blaine raised an eyebrow at Kurt. Kurt smiled and started walking towards it. Blaine and Rose, the little girl laughing, followed him. As they walked over, a couple families glanced uncomfortably Kurt and Blaine's way, until they heard Rose's happy, "Come on Daddy, hurry up Mr. Kurt!"

Of course, the ride was nothing much—just a metal dragon on a track riding in an uneven oval, but Rose's little four year old mind _loved_ it. Blaine looked around and noticed a couple other families with little kids on the same ride.

When they got off, a few single moms glanced his and Kurt's way, one even winking at Blaine, but he quickly took Rose's hand who took Kurt's hand and walked away. They ended up at the petting zoo, where Kurt paid for Rose to feed the cute farm animals.

"You really don't have to do that." Blaine said, leaning on the white fence caging the animals. Kurt was leaning on it too, and they were both staring at Rose.

"Do what?" Kurt asked.

"Pay for everything. I could've paid for Rose's and my tickets to the fair, and to the petting zoo." Blaine said.

"I know." Kurt shrugged, "But I really like Rose, and I wanted to do something with and for her. I mean, I'm not asking you to let me into her life or anything, because I get it. You two are best friends, just the two of you, but… I don't know, Blaine. I feel like I need to do this."

"You don't owe her anything." Blaine said, looking at the ground in front of Kurt's feet, "You don't owe _me_ anything either. And you're not going to pay me back for what you did by being nice to my daughter."

Kurt sighed. "I know. And that's not _really_ why I'm doing this, although I wish there was something I _could_ do, I know there isn't." He paused. "Is it really so bad that I just really like Rose and want to spend time with her? And her father?"

Blaine shrugged and half smiled. "I guess it isn't."

Just then, Rose ran over. "Daddy! Daddy! Mr. Kurt! I just touched a llama! I fed it! And then I touched it!"

Kurt and Blaine laughed at Rose's enthusiasm. "That's awesome, sweetie! Was it soft?"

"Yup!" Rose said as she walked out of the gated area. "And it ate straight out of my hand!  
she paused and looked straight at Kurt. "Thank you so much for letting me do this, Mr. Kurt."

Kurt smiled back at the little girl. "Of course. I'm glad you're having fun."

She looked at the ground before looking back at the two men in front of her. "Daddy?" she asked, "I heard some people talking about singing contest for two people. And since I really liked you and Mr. Kurt singing together at New Years, I thought you should do it again! I bet you could win!" Rose looked up, a hopeful glint in her eyes.

"We can check it out. If Kurt wants to." Blaine said.

"Of course!" Kurt grinned. He wouldn't admit it to anyone (not even Rachel) but he hadn't realized how much he missed singing with Blaine until New Years when he actually sang with him again. "Let's go see what's going on."

"Yay!" Rose cheered, taking both of their hands and letting them take her to the stage area. There they signed up and were asked to look through a book of songs. There were so many recent songs that neither of them really knew, until the stumbled onto the pages of songs that had come out when they were in high school and college.

"What would be an appropriate song for two mid twenties ex boyfriends to sing at a fair in Westerville, Ohio?" Kurt asked, laughing at some of the songs he'd remembered his Glee club doing in high school.

Blaine laughed in return. "There probably aren't any." They continued flipping through pages until Kurt grabbed Blaine's arm. "I don't know. None of them seem to fit." Kurt whispered.

Sighing in frustration, Blaine took out his phone, snapped pictures of a few pages, and sent the pictures to Carrie. _Oh wise one, I have suddenly found myself in a duet competition with one Kurt Hummel and we can't choose a song. Help? –B_

Carrie texted him back within a few minutes. _You're lucky I'm awake. I have the night shift tonight. Uhmmm… Give me a few minutes to read your blurry pictures. ;P_

Blaine told Kurt that he'd texted one of his friends for help. A couple minutes later, Blaine's phone buzzed. He and Kurt leaned over Blaine's phone to read the message.

Blaine looked at it and smiled. "Perfect."

* * *

God this was nerve wracking. Kurt hadn't sang in front of anyone who wasn't family since his second year of college. And he laughed at himself when he brain thought, '_Has anyone actually died on stage?_' And while he _really_ wanted to say that to Blaine, to see if he remembered, he knew he couldn't do that to him.

"Ready?" Blaine asked, smiling at Kurt. "Nervous?"

"I don't know about you, but I'm terribly out of this performing thing. I don't know, I just lost it sometime in college." Kurt blushed, twirling the microphone in his hand like he did when he was nervous.

"I think it's adorable." Blaine whispered. "I think _you're_ adorable."

He and Kurt stared at each other for a moment, as if trying to decide if they should laugh or let the awkward silence continue. Luckily, they didn't have decide to because the person called, "Kurt Hummel from New York City and Blaine Anderson from Lima." to come out next.

Blaine and Kurt walked out anxiously. They heard the music start and Blaine brought the microphone towards his lips.

"_I finally asked you to dance on the last slow song_

_Beneath that moon that was really a disco ball_

_I can still feel my head on your shoulder_

_And hoping that song would never be over_"

Kurt brought his own microphone to his lips to sing harmony with Blaine.

"_I haven't seen you in ages_

_Sometimes I find myself wondering where you are_

_For me you'll always be eighteen and beautiful_

_And dancing away with my heart_"

Blaine backed off and let Kurt sing the second verse.

"_I brushed your curls back so I could see your eyes_

_And the way you moved me was like you were reading my mind_

_I can still feel you lean in to kiss me_

_I can't help but wonder if you ever miss me_"

Blaine came back in for the next chorus.

"_I haven't seen you in ages_

_Sometimes I find myself wondering where you are_

_For me you'll always be eighteen and beautiful_

_And dancing away with my heart_"

Then Kurt let Blaine sing,

"_You headed off to college at the end of that summer_

_And we lost touch"_

And then Kurt and Blaine sang the last of the song together.

"_I guess I didn't realize even at the moment we lost so much_

_I haven't seen you in ages_

_Sometimes I find myself wondering where you are_

_For me you'll always be eighteen and beautiful_

_And dancing away with my heart."_

Blaine couldn't believe the response they got. Everyone was standing and cheering, but all he or Kurt could see was the little four year old in the front row, grinning from ear to ear, eyes sparkling with tears at seeing her Daddy so happy. The two rushed off the stage and Blaine gathered Rose up in a bear hug.

The three of them sat down to watch the remainder of the acts.

* * *

"Second place, not too shabby—even for a former NYADA student and a current Glee club director." Kurt laughed. "And even I couldn't give the award to us after those two little kids came up and sang together. It was just too _cute_!"

Blaine laughed. "Trust me, I know. One of those kids was in my kindergarten last year. She's just a _doll_."

"Speaking of dolls," Kurt said, turning to Rose, "What does this one want to do next?"

"Can we play some of the games?" Rose asked.

Kurt laughed, nodded, and led the way to a series of fair game booths. While Kurt and Rose played a few games, Blaine pulled out his phone. He had a text from Carrie. _How'd it go?_

_Amazing._ He texted back, _We got second place to two kindergarteners. Everybody loved it. Rose loved it. Kurt sounded amazing. Our voices fit together just as well as they did in high school. –B_

Carrie's reply came quickly. _I'm sure your voices aren't the only things that would fit together as well as they did in high school_

_Shut up._

Blaine put his phone away and turned to the game Kurt was playing, just as he won a three foot tall teddy bear. Blaine watched as Rose jumped up and down ecstatically when Kurt handed her the stuffed animal (which was seriously as big as if not bigger than her). "Want me to carry that for you, sweetheart?" Blaine asked.

Rose nodded. They went on a few more rides when, in the corner of his eye, Blaine saw Rose yawn. It was dark and it was getting late. And she hadn't had a nap today. "Are you ready to go home, baby?"

"Yeah. But I wanna ride the Ferris wheel first!" she exclaimed. Blaine laughed as he, Kurt, Rose, and Rose's giant teddy bear climbed on the Ferris wheel. Rose sat on one side and pulled her stuffed animal beside her, forcing Kurt and Blaine to sit next to each other. Rose was so preoccupied by staring at the city and fair lights around her.

"You know, Ohio is actually pretty charming up here." Kurt commented.

"Oh yeah?" Blaine asked, smiling softly at Kurt.

"Yeah. It's really, really pretty. With the light of the city under us, the light of the stars above us… Don't get me wrong, I love New York and can't wait to go back, but I'll miss the stars."

Blaine was quiet for a moment. "I guess they had to make way for you and Rachel when you two moved there."

Kurt snorted. "That's so cheesy it's almost endearing."

"Almost?" Blaine asked. "Aw, come on. I thought it was a little bit cute." Kurt continued to laugh. "Clever, maybe? Oh come one Kurt, stop laughing." But by then he was laughing too. When the ride stopped at the bottom, Kurt grabbed the teddy bear while Blaine took the half asleep Rose in his arms and they walked to the car.

They climbed into the car and Rose, teddy bear in hand and completely exhausted, fell asleep in her car seat. After a few minutes of silence, Blaine spoke up. "So you somehow know that I've had a nonexistent dating life since you, and even though I still want to know how you know that, what about you?"

Kurt nervously glanced at the steering wheel before looking back at the road. "Um. Isn't this an awkward thing to bring up?"

Blaine laughed. "First of all, awkward is my middle name. And second of all, I'm seriously just curious. You don't have to answer it."

Kurt shrugged. "Well, um… Who was the guy I was dating when—"

"Zack." Blaine said.

"Yeah, Zack. That's right." Kurt said. "He and I broke up about two weeks later. And then I went on a couple dates with some other guys, dated this guy named Bryan on and off for a year, and then. Um." Kurt's voice trailed off.

"What's wrong?" Blaine asked.

"It's nothing." Kurt smiled at Blaine, although Blaine could tell it wasn't sincere. "Just. I was engaged to this guy I knew for a couple months, but we broke it off. It's nothing."

Blaine bit his lower lip. Here he had been spending the past few years angry at Kurt for leaving him and having a perfect life and feeling bad for himself, but the truth was that maybe Kurt _hadn't_ had a perfect life. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really." Kurt said, glaring at the dark road ahead of them.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." Kurt said, before sighing. "No. Maybe. I just. It's not that big of a deal. We dated for nine months, were engaged for two, and then broke up. Whatever. He's in the past."

Blaine didn't know what to say. He _didn't_ understand. He _couldn't_ understand. He'd been shoving people away so much for the past decade that he wasn't sure _how_ to act understanding and friendly. "I'm sorry." He said at last.

"For what? You didn't do anything." Kurt said, trying to conceal a sniffle to not let Blaine know he was crying.

"Well, if you ever want to talk about it." Blaine said, leaving his offer at that.

Kurt sent Blaine a half smile. "I know your number."

The rest of the ride was silent. Kurt helped carry the teddy bear and car seat inside and waited as Blaine tucked his daughter into bed. He was busy looking at different pictured of Rose growing up that he didn't hear Blaine come up behind him.

"Rose had a great time today. Thank you so much." Blaine said.

Kurt turned. "I'm glad. I really hoped she would."

"She did." Blaine assured. He stared at his hands and remembered what Rachel had said.

"_Maybe you should stop letting fear push you away and into moping about how you can't get what you want, and reach in there and take what you need._"

Kurt, taking Blaine's dazed look as a dismissal, headed towards the door. "Good night, Blaine. I'll talk to you later."

The door closing is what brought Blaine back to the present. He sprinted down his drive way to where Kurt was getting into his car. He grabbed Kurt's arm, spun him around, and kissed him. Startled at the spontaneous nature of his act, Blaine backed up for a moment. He saw an equally confused look in Kurt's eyes.

"Um." Kurt said. "That."

Blaine let out a short laugh. "Yeah. That." They both stood in silence for a moment. "Look, Kurt. I'm sorry. That was out of line and… I'm just really sorry."

Kurt grinned, put his arms on Blaine's shoulders, and leaned in until their foreheads were touching. "Don't be."

* * *

So I'm in Arkansas (well. Missouri yesterday. Arkansas today) seeing my sister for the first time since before Christmas my freshman year! So that's exciting, but we have to leave, back to Tennessee, tomorrow morning :( But it's been fun! And luckily I've had internet while here! :D And I'll be home by next Saturday! :D

Anyway. Thanks for reading, hope you liked my favorite chapter, and have an awesome week!


	16. Chapter 14

I'm home from vacation, but now I'm getting post vacation depression feels and it's not fun! :( It doesn't help that my computer and cell phone are both broken D: But ah well. Here's the next chapter, and I hope you like it!

* * *

**Chapter 14**

For the next couple weeks, Blaine woke up every morning feeling happier than he had in a very long time. Burt noticed Kurt smiling all the time, and Rose noticed Blaine laughing at nearly everything. Rose also noticed that when Mr. Kurt wasn't spending time at their house, Miss Carrie was over and Daddy was out with Mr. Kurt.

And although Rose had always liked Kurt, Blaine noticed her affection for him growing even more. She'd even accidentally called him "Daddy" a couple times (which Kurt and Blaine just laughed to). All Blaine knew, was that when he wasn't spending time with Kurt and/or Rose, the two of them were together.

February 3, Blaine woke up and rolled out of bed. He showered quickly and got his daughter ready for school while he got ready for work. They ate breakfast quickly and headed out the door. Blaine kissed his daughter good bye inside her preschool room and walked across the street to his school.

The kids had been doing really well this year. They were very well behaved and extremely smart—up to half of Blaine's kindergarteners could already semi-read, and they all _loved_ him. "Mr. A! Mr. A!" one of the curly blonde twins called. As she got closer he realized it was Alyssa.

"Good morning, Alyssa!" he greeted, unlocking the door and letting his kids in.

"Good morning." She said, pushing her headband further back on her head. "Guess what Kaylee and I did yesterday!"

Blaine pretended to think about it. "What did you guys do?" he asked at last.

Kaylee ran up, "We got to ride horses with daddy!"

"And he took us shopping and we got to pick out new clothes!" Alyssa exclaimed.

"And then he took us to our favorite restaurant," Kaylee continued.

"And then when we went back home, he told us that mommy is pregnant!" Alyssa finished.

"Wow!" Blaine said as everyone made their way to their desks, "so you guys are going to be big sisters?"

"Yup!" Alyssa said proudly, "mommy says she doesn't know if we're going to have a baby brother or sister, but we're so so so excited."

Blaine grinned as the rest of his class raised their hands to tell stories of different aunts or cousins or parents or siblings or neighbors or pets who had been pregnant or were pregnant at the time. This was one of the things Blaine loved about kids that most people didn't. They were so eager to share and trust to other people what was going on in their lives. So, unlike most teachers, Blaine let them go on for nearly half an hour before he stopped them to start class.

Blaine was sitting in his office on the high school side of campus, eating lunch and prepping for his next class, when the door swung open and Kurt ran in grinning. "Blaine!" he said, turning into the office. "Blaine Blaine Blaine Blaine Blaine!"

Blaine laughed and stood up. "Kurt Kurt Kurt Kurt Kurt! What's up?"

"Rachel. She's at the hospital. She was going in for her forty week checkup and when they checked her, she was six centimeters dilated. And since they were going to induce her on Friday if she hadn't gone into labor on her own, they decided to induce her today. I'm on my way to the hospital, but I wanted to let you know."

Blaine smiled widely. "Really? That's amazing! Wow, Kurt! Are you excited?"

Kurt laughed. "Beyond excited! I'm so excited to be an uncle."

Blaine smiled. "Send me a picture when she has the baby, alright?"

Kurt nodded vigorously. "Of course. As soon as Rachel and Finn let me in, I'll send you a picture of him."

Blaine smiled and kissed Kurt on the cheek. "You have things to do in the waiting room?" Kurt nodded. "Alright, well, remember to send me the picture." Blaine kissed Kurt goodbye and watched him walk out the door.

The rest of the day went fairly smoothly. Blaine's students had noticed the change in his demeanor the past month, but no one had said anything about it. In glee club that afternoon, a redhead in the front row raised her hand. "Hey, Mr. A?"

"Yeah?" Blaine asked, turning to her.

"I'm just," she looked around at the rest of her class, "_we're_ just really excited that whatever happened to you over Christmas vacation, happened."

"Yeah, dude." Another brunette boy named Michael spoke up, "it's really awesome to see you all happy and stuff." A bunch of his other students made agreeing noises.

Blaine smiled and sat on the corner of his desk. "You know what guys? I'm really excited about what happened to me over winter break, too."

A shy blonde girl in the back, Chloe, raised her hand next. "May I ask _what_ happened to you over winter break?"

Blaine smiled to himself. "Yeah. I… So you guys know how I grew up here? And I actually attended McKinley my junior and senior year? Well, my best friend recently moved back, except we did _not_ part on good terms. We didn't really get along all that well when he first moved here, but we were slowly getting closer and close. Then on Christmas Eve we got into this huge fight. But, thanks to Rose, we became friends again. And suddenly, I have my best friend back. So yeah, I've been really happy lately."

A bunch of girls 'awww'ed. Blaine blushed and smiled just as the bell rang. Blaine thought everyone had left, but when he looked back up he saw Chloe standing there. She slung her backpack over her shoulder and grinned. "I'm really glad you and your ex boyfriend, I mean, best friend, made up." She winked as she walked out the door, and Blaine couldn't help but laughing.

Just before he walked to pick up Rose, Blaine's phone started ringing. "Hey, Rachel." He said after looking at the caller ID. "I heard you're having a baby."

Rachel laughed. "Yeah, I am. And when I heard that you weren't planning on coming to see him tonight, I wanted to drive to your school and hit you again." Blaine smiled. "No, in all seriousness, we would really like you to come see him tonight, after you're done with school, if you'd like to."

"Yeah!" Blaine exclaimed, "Of course I'd love to come see him! I just didn't want to intrude on a family moment, you know?"

"Blaine Anderson." Rachel Berry's bossy voice rang through the cell phone speakers, "how many times do we have to tell you? You _are_ part of our family."

Blaine laughed. "Okay Rachel, I'll be there by four. So how's everything going with the baby?" he asked.

"I'm almost eight centimeters dilated, but my water hasn't broken on its own, so they think they'll have to break it. Usually the baby comes fairly quickly after that." she said.

"When do they plan on breaking it?" Blaine asked.

Rachel's voice sounded further away a she asked her nurse the question Blaine asked her. "Anywhere between five and six." She said, "there are four other women in labor here and only two doctors, so they have to wait until a doctor is available."

The bell indicating Blaine's class was about to start rang. "Okay, well good luck Rachel. I'll be there soon."

"Okay. Talk to you later Blaine."

"Bye Rachel."

* * *

Thanks to Rose being in the middle of a round of 'hide and seek,' Blaine made it to the hospital by four fifteen, and Rachel had yet to be induced. Blaine and Rose started up a game of Monopoly with Kurt (actually, Rose ended up teaming up with Kurt since she didn't understand the rules, and they whooped Blaine's ass, but details, details).

Around five thirty, Carole walked out of the room to tell them that they had broken Rachel's water, and she was officially in active labor. Two hours later, Finn sent out a picture to everyone's phones.

Kurt's eyes were glazed over with tears as he stared at his nephew's face through the screen of his cell phone. "He's perfect." Blaine whispered in Kurt's ear, looking over his shoulder. Kurt nodded and smiled ear to ear.

After Leroy, Hiram, Carole, Burt (with Rose in tow), and Kurt had all gone in to see the baby, Blaine was directed towards Rachel and Finn's room. He knocked on the door and went in to see Rachel half asleep in her bed, Finn beaming and holding the baby, and Kurt whispering to the baby.

Finn looked up and smiled when he saw Blaine enter the room. "Blaine," Finn said, "meet Levi Norbert Hudson."

"Norbert?" Blaine tried to hide his grimace.

"She wanted that to be his first name." Finn muttered under his breath.

Blaine knitted his eyebrows in confusion. "Norbert like, like Harry Potter or something?"

Finn shrugged but Kurt rolled his eyes. "No, Norbert as in Norbert Leo Butz." He received blank stares in return. "Broadway." He tried again. "Fiyero on Wicked." Still blank stares. "You guys are hopeless."

Blaine laughed. "Not all of us can be Kurt Hummels or Rachel Berrys."

"That's true." Kurt grinned, wrapping his arms around Blaine's neck. "If we were all Kurts and Rachels then the world would be sadly lacking the Blaines. And that would be such a loss."

"Ugh, PDA!" Finn groaned.

Kurt jokingly glared at him. "I've spent the past five years living with the two of you. You got Rachel pregnant while we were living together. I'm the only one allowed to complain about PDA."

"It's not my fault the walls were thin." Finn muttered. Blaine laughed and he heard Rachel wake up in the background.

"Do you want to hold him, Blaine?" she asked.

"Um, sure." Blaine said. Finn handed him the baby. "Hey, Levi! How are you buddy?" the baby just looked up at him with his big blue eyes. "He's surprisingly adorable for a newborn." Blaine commented. "Rosie looked like an alien for the first week or two."

Finn laughed. "Well, when or if his hair falls out, he'll probably look pretty funny. Won't you, baby?" Finn said, smiling over the baby. Blaine handed Levi back to his father, and Levi looked up at him. Finn grinned from ear to ear and leaned over to kiss his son's forehead. Blaine swore he heard Finn whisper "I love you" to Levi.

A few minutes later, Blaine headed out and, as soon as Kurt said goodbye, he followed. Rose, who was in the living room with Burt, Carole, Leroy, and Hiram, ran up to Blaine. "Daddy, Levi is so cute!"

Blaine grinned. "He is, isn't he, sweetie?" she nodded ecstatically. "Are you ready to go home?" Blaine asked. Rose nodded and yawned in reply. She took his hand and they started towards the door.

"Night everyone." Kurt said as he kissed his parents good bye. He put his arm around Blaine's waist when he caught up. "Can I come back to your place for a couple hours tonight? I finished all the sketches I have due this morning, and then I spent eight hours in a hospital waiting room. And it's only eight o'clock. Please, good sir, have mercy on my boredom."

Blaine laughed. "Of course you can come over. I'd love to have you over on this lovely evening."

After Kurt and Blaine read Rose a story, she fell asleep almost immediately. Then the two boys headed out to Blaine's living room and Blaine collapsed on the couch, Kurt falling on top of him. "I don't know what it is about sitting in a waiting room all day, but I'm seriously exhausted." Kurt sighed, resting his head on Blaine's chest. "I'm tired. Cuddle me."

Blaine laughed and hugged Kurt closer to him. "As you wish." Kurt giggled and snuggled his head between Blaine's arm and chest.

And that was exactly how they were the next morning when Rose found them.


	17. Chapter 15

Oh my god, guys I'm so sorry. I just completely forgot about this story over the weekend. It completely slipped my mind. In my defense, school started last Thursday, and I also have this ninja-mutant-cold that I've had for about five weeks and it sucks, so I've been tired and stressed and distracted... But still, here's your chapter. Three days late.

* * *

**Chapter 15**

The weeks flew by quickly, and pretty soon it was early April with spring in the air. Blaine, Kurt, and Rose spending as much time together as possible, and it even got to the point when Kurt was sleeping at Blaine's house more than his own. One particular night, Carrie had taken Rose out for the evening (kidnapped, as she called it) to do 'girl stuff.'

Blaine knew Rose was having the time of her life with Carrie. She called him around six o'clock to tell him _all_ about her day. "First Miss Carrie and I went and got our nails painted, and it was so much fun, but it tickled a little bit. And then we went shopping at the mall and had pizza for lunch! And then we went to a movie, but I fell asleep half way through. So after that Miss Carrie and I went out for ice cream, and she asked me if I wanted to stay at her house tonight."

Just then, Blaine heard Carrie take the phone from Rose. "Come on, Blaine. You've been dating for four months, and you two are young! Live a little!"

Needless to say, Blaine accepted Carrie's offer to take Rose for the night. "I have my teddy bear and _everything_, Daddy. Miss Carrie and I will be fine."

Blaine laughed. "Alright, sweetie. You have fun."

"Okay Daddy. Good night!"

"Good night, Princess." Blaine said before hanging up the phone. He walked out of his bedroom to where Kurt was waiting in the living room.

"What's going on?" Kurt asked.

Blaine smiled. "Rose is staying at Carrie's tonight, so we have the whole town and the whole night to just the two of us. What do you say we do?"

"Well," Kurt began, a smile forming on his face, "it's barely six and we haven't eaten dinner yet. Breadstix?" he asked.

Blaine smiled. "Only if we can dress up all fancy and act seventeen."

Kurt laughed. "Of course. I'll be back here by six thirty."

And by six thirty, Kurt and Blaine were in Kurt's car on their way to Breadstix. When they got there they stopped, got a table, and ordered their food. They sat across from each other, holding hands. "You know what?" Kurt said.

"What?" Blaine asked.

"This is the same table we were at when I asked you to Junior Prom." Kurt laughed, looking around. "Wow, this place hasn't changed a bit."

Blaine looked around. "You know, you're right. That's crazy. I haven't been here since high school, either."

"Really!" Kurt exclaimed, "But you _live_ here! What do you _do_ in Lima"

Blaine laughed. "Rose and I mostly stay at home. I mean, between work and raising a four year old, I don't have much time. When we go out to eat, it's to those fun fast food places with a playground to get some of her energy out. And when we're home we play games, watch movies, and do puzzles or whatever."

"That's so _boring_!" Kurt laughed.

"Tis the life of a single-dad-school-teacher." Blaine rolled his eyes. "It's no New York, but it's not that bad."

Kurt shrugged and smiled. "Yeah New York is pretty amazing. I love it there."

The spent the rest of their dinner in relative silence, just enjoying the other's company before heading back to Blaine's house. "I'm just curious, so don't get offended, but why do we never spend hang out at your apartment?" Blaine asked.

Kurt shrugged. "I just don't see it as _my_ house. It's just the place I sleep at night. I mean, your house is your house, and you obviously feel comfortable here because it's _yours_. If my New York apartment was here, I wouldn't mind spending time there. I guess it doesn't feel like home."

Blaine smiled to himself as he took Kurt's hand and walked up to his front door. "Tell me about New York."

"Haven't you already been there?" Kurt teased.

Blaine nodded. "Yeah, a couple times, but always as a tourist. How is it for an actual New Yorker?" Kurt gave him a quizzical look, as if he didn't know how to answer Blaine's question. "Tell me about your friends, tell me about NYADA, tell me about how you decided to get into designing, tell me about past boyfriends." He paused. "Tell me about your ex fiancé."

Kurt stared at the patterns on Blaine's couch. "Do you really want to hear about that?"

Blaine nodded eagerly. "Yeah. Of course I do."

"Alright, but you have to tell me something in turn." Kurt said.

"You already know almost everything about me, Kurt. I told you about Jayden, your dad told you about my family, and you obviously know about you. What else is there?" Blaine asked.

"Carrie did tell me something about you, but she said I'd have to ask you." Kurt explained.

Blaine's face darkened. "What did she tell you?"

Kurt frowned. "That's the thing. She didn't tell me much, except that it was right after you moved here and Rose was about two and _something_ happened. She said I'd have to ask you exactly what."

Blaine nodded slowly. "Okay. I'll tell you about that if you tell me about your fiancé." He said, before adding, "And Zack."

Kurt nodded and thought about where to begin. "Okay, well I was in my first year of NYADA when I met Zack. We went out for coffee a few times, did our homework together, had classes together. And we became friends. The first time he kissed me, I literally ran out of the room. I had told him about you and how we'd been dating since my junior year of high school, and he obviously didn't care.

"I mean, he did back off for about a month after the first time he kissed me. But then _I_ couldn't get _my_ mind off of him. And I told myself that it was just a crush, just the thrill of having someone besides you actually find me attractive and boyfriend material, I guess. I tried to convince myself it was just a crush, and that I was just interested in him because he kissed me. So from that, I decided that if I kissed him one more time, I'd be able to get over it, move on, and come back to you at Christmas with no guilt.

"But," Kurt frowned, "it obviously didn't work out that way. I just got more attached to him and started being extremely unfair to you. So you know what happened at Christmas, and then I went back to NYADA and told him. Zack was happy at first, but two weeks later I found him making out with another guy in Rachel's and my apartment. So I made him give me his key back and I broke up with him."

Blaine smiled smugly. "I knew this 'Zack' was an asshole."

Kurt giggled. "Yeah, he was." He paused, trying to figure out how to begin his next story. "I tried to date around. I told you about Bryan, and there were a couple other guys here and there, but no one that really mattered. Hell, Zack and Bryan didn't even really matter." He paused.

"NYADA was amazing, and I always loved it, but something always felt wrong. I guess somewhere along the line, I'd lost my love for performing. I was still determined to get my name in lights in more places than my imagination," Kurt laughed, "but NYADA just wasn't cutting it for me. I still love singing, don't get me wrong, but it just didn't seem like performing was for me anymore. So I decided I wanted to go into designing.

"The problem was that I had _no idea_ how to get into design. So I talked to one of my friends who just happened to be a designer. His name was Jordan. Jordan and I became best friends. He helped me with my designs, helped me apply for internships, helped me decide who I should make friends with, what classes I should take, what stepping stone jobs I should apply for.

"And in the few months we were friends, we fell in love. I asked him out the night I got my first internship. We were both so happy to be in New York, to be together, to have our respective jobs, to just be alive. We were best friends and we were head over heels completely in love. This lasted nine months.

"One night he took me to our favorite restaurant and had this huge mega date planned. It was beautiful and romantic and perfect, and he proposed at the end of the night. I was so ecstatic, and of course I said yes. So we called our families and started planning the wedding. About a month into the engagement, he started getting irritable with me. I had no idea what was going on, and just put it down to him being excited and nervous about getting married.

"Another month later he confronted me about what had been bothering him. One day I walked into Rachel's, Finn's, and my apartment to see him taking down pictures and he had two or three boxes of my stuff. I asked him what he was doing and he told me he was getting rid of it. He said that he was sick of seeing influences of this guy repeated in my life.

"I looked through all the pictures and boxes and could only find one common factor. My high school sweetheart, Blaine Anderson. You were in all the pictures, the scrapbook he was trying to throw away was of my months at Dalton, the sweatshirts and bowties he was throwing out either used to be yours or you gave them to me, everything. I was furious and wanted to know what his problem was with a guy I had known over five years ago and hadn't spoken to in even longer.

"He said it was weird that I kept all this. Weird that I still had love letters, pictures, jewelry, clothes, everything. But I held on to things from all my high school friends, but you for some reason bothered him. So he said that it was either all my stuff or him." Blaine had been so immersed in Kurt's story that he barely noticed they both were crying.

"I told Jordan that I loved him, and I didn't want to let him go but I wasn't going to throw away my high school memories for him. He walked out and I haven't seen him since." Kurt shrugged and wiped his tears away.

Blaine rubbed Kurt's back soothingly and kissed his cheek. "For the record, I'm glad you two broke up."

Kurt laughed. "You know, so am I. Now, tell me about this mystery Carrie told me about."

"Oh yeah. That." Blaine sighed. "It's not a good story. I'm really ashamed of it, actually."

Kurt sighed and leaned his head on to Blaine's shoulder. "I have a lot to be ashamed about, Blaine. I have no right to judge you."

Blaine sighed. "Alright, but I warned you. It is _not_ a happy story. It was 2018 and I had been living back in Lima for a couple months. Rose was being a typical two year old, and had a new best friend every second—usually the one person who would give her what she wanted. Carrie was in her last year of college, but she was already Rose's babysitter and Rose _loved_ her.

"It was early June, and was graduation weekend for my school. June had always been a sore time for me, since it was the anniversary of my family members' deaths, but being at a graduation, the event I found out they had died in the _town _I found out they had died, intensified the emotions I was having. That morning I hadn't bought Rose something she wanted, some toy or something, and so she had been going on and on about how Miss Carrie would've gotten it for her, and how she wished Miss Carrie was her mommy and I wasn't her daddy."

Blaine looked up at Kurt. "I know she didn't mean it. I know that little kids just say things, and that she was just sad about not getting what she wanted, but I was so upset already. So I packed up a suitcase with a bunch of Rose's things, wrote Carrie a note, and dropped her off in Carrie's apartment. Then I packed up all of my stuff, turned off my cell phone, got in my car, and I drove. I didn't know where I was going, but I only stopped for food and gas.

"A couple days later, I found myself in Salt Lake City, Utah and I finally turned on my phone. Almost immediately my text inbox and my voicemail inbox were full of things from Carrie. At first she thought I was joking, but as the texts and calls became more recent and she realized I _wasn't_ coming back, she became panicked. She said that she had _no idea_ what to do with a two year old, and that I was lucky it was summer, and that if I didn't call her back within a day or two she was going to call CPS and I'd end up in prison.

"But at that point," Blaine said, looking out the window at the dark sky, "I didn't care. I didn't want to go back to Lima. I didn't want to be a father. I didn't want to be a teacher. I didn't want to be a friend. I didn't want to be Blaine. So I turned my phone back off and drove to the Grand Canyon."

Blaine took a few deep breaths, trying to slow his heart. He remembered the wind blowing, the exact temperature of the air, exactly what he was wearing, everything. "I went to a pay phone and called Carrie, but as soon as she answered the phone, I hung up. The rest of the day I paced outside of a gas station and finally decided what I was going to do.

"Carrie and her brilliant mind figured out that I had been the one calling her, and saw that the area code was for the Grand Canyon area. And then it hit her. She knew what I was going to do before I even consciously knew. She bought plane tickets to Arizona for her and Rose, and drove around until they found my car. She was sure she was too late, but then she saw me, standing next to it, looking over the edge.

"Right then, I had made up my mind. I was counting to ten, and on ten I was going to run, break through all security, and jump. I was at nine when Carrie called out my name, bring attention to me. I saw her standing there, crying, and Rose holding her hand looking extremely worried. It broke my heart to see Rose, at only two years old, looking so sad. And Carrie, my closest friend looking so broken. So I walked towards them and started sobbing.

"Right then and there, I gave Carrie an overview everything I could think of. I didn't really give details, but I told her about Cooper and my parents and Abby and running away and Jayden. I only left out the bullying in high school, and you. Then, being so exhausted since I'd only slept in my car for a couple hours at a time the past week, I almost passed out.

"She put me and Rose in the back of my car and started driving back to Lima. I woke up almost two full days later, and she told me that if I ever pulled shit like that on her again, she was going to report me. I was so thankful that she was going to let me go on this one that I promised her I would never do it again." Blaine leaned back onto his couch and closed his eyes. "Rose doesn't remember anything from it, thank god, and Carrie's only said anything about it once or twice, but I'll never forget how I let both of them down." Blaine tried to slow his tears, and ended up sobbing on to Kurt's shoulder.

"Shhh, it's okay honey, it's okay. Look at you, Blaine. You're twenty six years old. You're a teacher at a school where all of your students love you. You have a daughter who idolizes you and a boyfriend who wants to make you his forever. Yes, because of your past you made a stupid mistake, but that was two years ago. You're doing so much better, and you know it." Kurt whispered reassurances into Blaine's ear as he calmed him down.

After the two of them had stopped crying, they sat on Blaine's couch for what seemed like ages, just holding each other and whispering the other reassurances and encouragements. Then Blaine stood silently and took Kurt's hand in his own. As they walked towards Blaine's bedroom, it dawned on Kurt what Blaine was doing.

"Blaine?" he asked softly and hesitantly.

Blaine turned. "Yes?"

Kurt smiled through his watery eyes. "I just," he paused. "I love you so much."

Blaine smiled back and kissed Kurt. "I love you, too."


	18. Chapter 16

So, as those of you who follow me on Tumblr know, I'm not having the best week ever. Actually. I'm having a really bad week. So that's the reason it's Sunday everywhere in the US except Hawaii and I'm just getting your new chapter up-I almost forgot. AGAIN. But, alas, here it is! And I hope you like it!

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**Chapter 16**

"Did you have a good time with Miss Carrie?" Blaine asked when his daughter was dropped off the next morning. Carrie smirked when she saw that Kurt was still there and Blaine tried not to laugh at her.

"Yes! It was so much fun. But I missed you a lot, Daddy." Rose said.

Blaine grinned and kissed his daughter. "I missed you a lot too, Rosie."

"Can just you and me spend the day together today? We haven't done that in an awfully long time." Rose asked shyly. "I like Mr. Kurt and all, but I miss just you Daddy."

Kurt smiled as he heard the request. "You know what? I have a bunch of stuff I have to do today, so I'll go do that. But would it be okay if I came over tonight and brought one of my favorite movies, and we watched it?"

Rose's eyes lit up and she nodded ecstatically. "Yeah!" she cheered, "that sounds like fun, Mr. Kurt."

Kurt kissed Blaine good bye. "I had a really great time yesterday, Blaine. I'm glad my dad found you again."

Blaine blushed and smiled back. "I'm glad my car broke down." Kurt laughed before waving to Rose and Carrie and walking out to his car. After kissing Blaine's and Rose's cheeks, Carrie said good bye as well.

Blaine turned to his daughter. "Alright honey, what do you want to do?"

Rose thought about it for a few seconds. "Can we go skating at the roller rink? I went there with Riley once and I thought you would really like it."

"Of course we can go, sweetie." She and Blaine climbed into their car and rode to the skating rink.

They spent over three hours there; Blaine was surprised at how well Rose could skate—she was possibly even better than him. Rose and Blaine skated around the arena, played some of the games the rink set up, and even played a few games in the arcade. When they stopped for lunch, Blaine was only slightly surprised to hear familiar voices behind him.

"Hey, Mr. A!" said a girl in his AP government class—Sophie Rivers.

Blaine turned and smiled. "Hey, Sophie. Hey Robert." Blaine nodded at Sophie's boyfriend. "Having fun?"

"Tons." Sophie laughed. "I don't know why more people don't come skating. I know it's out of style or whatever, but it's fun." She giggled and rolled off, pulling her boyfriend with her.

A couple minutes later, another girl in his class, Anna, came up. "Mr. A?" she asked hesitantly.

He turned and smiled. "Hey Anna! What's up?"

She smiled shyly. "I wanted to introduce you to my girlfriend, Sara. She's on spring break from her college, and she came to visit."

Blaine, who hadn't known Anna was gay, smiled even wider. He reached out his hand to shake Sara's. "It's nice to meet you, Sara."

"See?" Anna said, giggling, "I told you Mr. A would be okay with it. He's _cool_."

Blaine laughed. "To let you in on a secret, ladies, I couldn't _not_ be okay with it. I play on the same team."

Anna smiled. "To let _you_ in on a secret, Mr. A, no one says it, but everyone knows."

Blaine laughed and watched as the girls, hand in hand, skated away. He appreciated how no one seemed to care. "Things are definitely not like they were when I was in high school, Rosie."

She laughed, not quite understanding what he meant, but hearing the humor in her father's voice nonetheless. "Can we go get ice cream, Daddy?"

He ruffled her hair and took her hand. "Yeah, let's go."

Blaine and Rose turned in their skates and headed out the door. They drove to an ice cream place and then headed home for Rose's nap. Blaine texted Kurt.

_Hello, beautiful –B_

_Hey there(: how's your day with Rose so far? –Kurt_

_It's been really good. We went skating. I met one of my student (Anna)'s girlfriend. She was really sweet. And they told me that everyone at school knows I'm gay –B_

_Lol. Well, you're not exactly discreet… –Kurt_

_Hmmm. Alright, I'll give you that one. Anyway, then Rose and I went out to ice cream. She's taking a nap right now, and then we're going to have macaroni for dinner. Do you still want to come over tonight? –B_

_Of course! What time? –Kurt_

_6:30 sound good? –B_

_Sounds awesome. See you then! –Kurt_

_Iiii loooooveeee yooouuu! –B_

_I love you too, goof ball –Kurt_

Blaine put his phone down and started making Rose dinner. Around four thirty, Rose came out of her bedroom, yawning.

"Hey honey." Blaine said to her, "Have a nice nap?"

She nodded. "Yup. When is Mr. Kurt getting here for our movie?" she asked.

"At six thirty. So we have two hours to eat dinner and maybe do something fun. What do you think?" Blaine asked.

"What movie is he bringing?" she asked.

Blaine frowned. "I'm not sure. I guess you'll have to ask him when he gets here." he said, dishing up their plates for dinner. They ate in relative silence, talking occasionally about her friends or things happening at her preschool. She told elaborate stories that Blaine was pretty sure here only half true, but played along tonight nonetheless.

After Blaine cleaned up their dinner and they headed to the living room. "Do you want to play a a game or something?" he asked.

"Could you read a book to me or something?" Rose asked shyly.

Blaine smiled and sat down, pulling her into his lap. "Sure honey. What book?" She pulled out a worn copy of Disney's Aladdin—it had been Blaine's when he was little. So he opened it and started reading.

When they finished the book, Rose wrapped her arms around her father's waist and snuggled into him. "I love you, Daddy." She whispered.

"I love you too, Rosie." He said, tears welling up in his eyes and hugging her tightly.

"I really like Mr. Kurt too." She said as an afterthought.

"Oh yeah?" he asked.

"Yeah. He's really nice to me, like Miss Carrie is. And he makes you really happy. I don't think I've ever seen you smile so much." Rose explained.

"He does make me happy. But wanna know a secret?" Blaine asked.

"What?" Rose turned to look at him.

"_You_ make me really happy. I'm most happy when I'm with you." Blaine kissed her cheek.

Rose giggled. "What about when you're with me _and_ Mr. Kurt at the same time?"

Blaine laughed at her giggles. "I suppose that's when I'm happiest."

"Good." Rose said. "Because when I'm with you and Mr. Kurt is when I'm happiest, too." They stayed on the couch cuddling for a couple minutes until there was a knock on the door. "I'll get it!" Rose called, racing to the door. She flung it open to find Kurt on the other side.

Blaine came walking around the corner to the door and smiled when he saw Rose hugging Kurt and telling him about her day. "Hey." Blaine said, leaning over and kissing Kurt hello. "How was your day?"

The three of them walked to the living room and Kurt busied himself putting the movie in. "It was good. I finished some work this morning, did some grocery shopping, cleaned my apartment, checked some stuff in my car, and spent the most recent part of the evening with my dad in the shop."

"So what are we watching?" Blaine asked.

Kurt showed him the cover of the DVD case. "Lilo and Stitch. I thought I was going to hate the movie when I first started seeing the previews, because of aliens and stuff, I thought it was going to be a 'boy' movie, but then at Finn's birthday party, because we were still at the age where you invited everybody in your classroom, we all went to see it and I loved it. I got all the movies and religiously watched the TV show."

Blaine laughed. "I always loved that movie. Even when I thought it was going to be a 'boy' movie."

The three of them sat down to watch it, with Rose nestled in between Kurt and Blaine. And, to put it lightly, she _loved_ it. Her eyes stayed wide and engaged for the first half of the movie, but eventually fell asleep. Near the end, Blaine woke her up so she could watch them rescue Lilo. When it was over, she was tired but still excited over the movie.

"Daddy it was so good! Because she didn't have friends, but Stitch was her friend, and then the aliens and her sister were her friends. And it was so _cute_! Daddy can we get a puppy?" Rose babbled on.

Blaine laughed. "We'll see. But we can't get an alien dog." He winked.

Rose giggled and Blaine watched as her eyes fought to stay open. "Are you tired honey?"

She shook her head. "No, I'm not tired. I'm not ready for bed yet."

Blaine laughed and scooped her into his arms. "I think it's time to sleep. I'll read you another story, alright?"

She nodded and closed her eyes, leaning against her daddy's chest. "Good night, Mr. Kurt. I love you."

Blaine saw Kurt jump and stare at her for a moment, before walking to where Blaine and Rose were standing. Kurt leaned over and kissed Rose's cheek. "I love you too, Rose."

She grinned in her half-asleep state, and Blaine carried her off to her bed. When he came back, Kurt was sitting on the couch waiting for him. "She's perfect, Blaine. How did you get a daughter like her?"

Blaine smiled and collapsed on the couch next to Kurt. "I don't know. I got lucky I guess." Blaine wrapped his arms around Kurt's waist and Kurt leaned into the embrace.

"You know, maybe I had a bad couple years, but things really aren't that bad. I mean, it sucks that my parents and grandparents and sister will never get to met Rose, and that they missed my high school and college graduations, and that they will never get to know what I did with my life. And it's always going to hurt, and it's always going to be a sore spot for me, but maybe I'm starting to move on." Blaine whispered to Kurt.

Kurt smiled through his watery eyes. "I think you are. And I'm so proud of you."

Blaine half smiled at Kurt. "You know, you're a big part of me moving on. So, thank you. I know you still beat yourself up over what happened, but don't. I've forgiven you a thousand times over."

Kurt laughed shakily. "I've waited eight years to hear you say that."

* * *

A week or so later, Kurt called Blaine when he was only fifteen minutes into his kindergarten class. "Hello?" Blaine asked when he answered it (his kids were working on an art project, so they didn't need him too much right now).

"Hey." Kurt said, and Blaine could hear the smile in his voice. "How are you on this beautiful late spring morning?"

Blaine laughed at his enthusiasm. "I'm great. How are you?"

"Lovely." Kurt said. "Can I kidnap your daughter for the day?"

"What?" Blaine laughed. "What do you need her for?"

"I don't _need_ her for anything." Kurt said, "I want to spend today with her. Would it be okay if I pulled her out of preschool for the day?"

"Yeah," Blaine said, "just let me call the preschool and let them know you'll be coming."

Kurt giggled. "Alright. Bye Blaine. I love you."

"Love you too. Bye Kurt." Blaine hung up that call, checked on his kindergartener's art projects, and called the preschool across the street.

The secretary answered the phone. "East Lima Preschool, Katheryn speaking, how may I help you?"

"Hey Katheryn, it's Blaine." He said.

"Oh, hey Blaine." She said, the professionalism melting from her voice, "How's everything going?"

"Pretty good." He said. "Hey, so one of my friends, Kurt Hummel, is going to be coming to pick Rose up sometime this morning. He's taking her out for the day."

"And does Rose know this Kurt Hummel?" Katheryn asked.

"Yes," Blaine said, "she calls him 'Mr. Kurt' and she _loves_ him. So you'll know who he is. And she has my permission to leave with him for the day."

"Alright." She said, "Have a good day, Blaine."

"You too." He hung up the phone and turned back to his class and grinned at them. "Alright guys, let's see your projects."

* * *

"Rose?" one of her teachers said to her, "there's someone here to see you."

Rose looked up and curiously followed her teacher to the lobby of the preschool. "Mr. Kurt!" she exclaimed when she saw him. She ran up to hug him.

"Hey Rose." He said, laughing. "Would it be okay if I took you for the day? We can do something fun."

Rose's eye lit up. "Really? Is it okay if I leave school?" she asked

Kurt nodded. "I already called your daddy and he said it's okay."

"Okay! Just let me get my backpack." She turned and one of her teachers had her bag in hand. Rose slung it over her shoulders and waved goodbye to Riley before following Kurt to his car. She saw her car seat in the back and climbed onto it, buckling herself in. "Where are we going, Mr. Kurt?" she asked.

"There's this place I heard of that has a bunch of things to do. There's mini golf, laser tag, an arcade, bumper boats, and go-cart racing. What do you think?" Kurt asked, glancing at her in his rearview mirror.

She squealed. "I've never been there, but a boy from preschool has, and he says it's so much fun! Thank you so much, Mr. Kurt!"

Kurt grinned at her enthusiasm. "You're welcome. Now, let's go have a fun day."

They began the day with mini golf, and Kurt taught Rose how to hit the ball correctly. She was so excited the first time she hit a hole-in-one on her own. She _loved_ the bumper boats ("They're even better than bumper cars!"), was pretty good at laser tag for a four year old, and thoroughly enjoyed herself in the go-cart races. She and Kurt, in their two person cart, were steadily getting first and second place. Rose absolutely_ loved_ the racing.

She and Kurt talked and giggled about their day the whole way home, and then gushed about it to Blaine until bedtime. After Rose had virtually passed out—yet another day with no naps, Kurt stayed a little bit later.

"Rose had an amazing time today. She really loves you, Kurt." Blaine smiled.

Kurt laughed. "Good. Because I love her to death, too. She's so sweet and cute and respectful and smart and," Kurt paused, "I know she has her cranky days when she hasn't had enough sleep and that she gets upset when things don't go her way. She's a little kid, what do you expect? But she's still so perfect, and everything anyone could want in a daughter."

Blaine smiled and looked out the dark window. "Yeah. Sometimes I think that she was sent to me by some higher power. She's really saved me. I'm so thankful for her."

Kurt smiled softly at his boyfriend and leaned over to kiss him. "I'm thankful for her, too."

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And I just wanted to say thank you to all of you, everyone who reads this and everyone who reviews to this... You guys are simply amazing. And I love all of you so much! You're all perfect amazing beautiful lovely human beings! :) Have an awesome week!


	19. Chapter 17

Guess who's going to be gone aaaall weekend, and leaving at 7:30 Tomorrow (Friday) morning? MEEE! So guess who gets their new chapter early? YOU! I get to go to the beach, and you get to read this two whole days early. Everybody wiiiinsss!

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**Chapter 17**

It was a beautiful early May day, and Kurt, Blaine, and Rose were at a park. There was a playground as well as a pond, so Rose was going between the sandbox, swing set, and feeding the birds the crust of her peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Everything in their lives was going perfectly. One of Kurt's designs was going to be featured in a fashion show and on the company's website within the next couple weeks, Blaine only had a few more college credits until he got his masters, Carrie had just been promoted from night shifts to day shifts, and Rose was enrolled in the all day kindergarten classroom at Blaine's school for the next year, even if she would probably end up spending two years in that class.

Kurt and Blaine spent the day sitting on a park bench, looking at the leaves and bugs Rose found, reading, and just enjoying each other's company. Around two thirty in the afternoon, Kurt received a call from Carole.

"Hey mom." Kurt greeted.

"Kurt, can you get to the hospital soon?"

Kurt's face turned from smiles to a very worried look as soon as he heard the tone of her voice. "Of course, what happened?"

"It's your dad. He had another heart attack. He was with Rachel, Finn, and Levi when he started complaining about chest pain. Rachel urged him to call the hospital but he refused. So when he kept complaining, she called without his permission. The ambulance got there right before he had his heart attack. He's in the hospital and they say he's going to be okay, but he'll have to stay here for a while." She explained.

Kurt started putting on his jacket and put his book in his shoulder bag. "Okay. I'll be there soon. Bye mom, love you."

"Bye honey." She said. They both hung up their phones and Kurt turned to Blaine.

"What happened?" Blaine asked, worried by the look on Kurt's face.

"My dad had another heart attack. Rachel called the hospital in time, but barely. He's in the hospital. Could you either take me or take me back to your house to get my car?" Kurt asked.

Blaine nodded. "Of course. Is he okay? Is he awake?"

"Yeah, he is. They say he'll be okay, but I won't believe it until I see him." Kurt said.

"Rosie! We have to go." Blaine called.

She ran over. "What's wrong, Daddy?"

"Mr. Kurt's daddy is in the hospital, and we have to take Kurt to the hospital, so we have to go, okay?" Blaine explained.

Rose nodded. "Will he be okay?"

Kurt shrugged. "The nurses say he should be. So he'll be okay." He smiled at Rose and they made their way to the car, after packing up their picnic and books. The ride to the hospital was virtually silent.

Kurt stared out his window. He knew that his dad was okay—thanks to Rachel. He knew that everything was going to be fine, but he remembered the desperation he felt when this had happened when he was sixteen, and he sincerely hoped this would be the last time he would have to feel this way. He tried to conceal his tears from the other two in the car.

Blaine noticed though, and he reached over to take Kurt's hand. "It'll be okay, love. He'll be fine. We're almost there." Kurt nodded and jumped out of the car after Blaine parked in the parking garage. He called Carole to let her know he was there and she made her way out to meet them.

"He's waiting for you." Carole said to Kurt. "He knows how worried you are."

"Of course I'm worried." Kurt muttered. "He had another heart attack."

"They're going to give him a stent to open the artery up," Carole explained, "And we're getting a new diet plan as well as medication for him."

"I don't understand. I thought he was doing much better." Kurt said.

"He is doing better, sweetie. But it's been almost ten years. Besides, they got there in time to save him and he's doing just fine. It's nothing like last time, honey." Carole assured him. When they got there, Blaine and Rose sat in the waiting room. As soon as Kurt went in, Rachel, Finn, and Levi came out. The three month old baby was just waking up in his father's arms and rubbed his eyes as he woke up.

"Hey, Blaine." Rachel said, sitting next to him. "How's Kurt doing?"

"Okay." Blaine said. "Carole explained what was going on, and he seems much more at ease now. He was really worried when we were first called." Everyone was silent for a few minutes before Blaine spoke up again. "I don't know if Kurt said anything in the few seconds you were in the room together, but thank you for not listening to Burt and calling the hospital. I'm sure you've been told that you probably saved his life, but thank you so much."

Rachel shrugged and smiled. "It was what needed done, and if he wasn't going to do it, than I was going to."

Blaine smiled at her and turned to Levi as Finn gave him to Rachel. "Hey Levi. How you doing, buddy?" Levi, who had seen Blaine enough times to recognize him, looked over at him with his big blue eyes and grinned at him.

Blaine spent the next few minutes playing with Levi—tickling his feet and stomach, playing 'peek-a-boo,' blowing raspberries on his cheeks. He was giggling, and in turn made Blaine, Rachel, and Finn laugh, easing the tension in the room.

Kurt came out about a half hour later (after Levi decided he was hungry and so Rachel fed him) and collapsed in the chair next to Blaine.

"How's he doing?" Blaine asked.

Kurt sighed. "He's doing great. I'm still worried because he has to have the stent put in, in the next couple days, but he should be okay. I just can't help but worrying."

Blaine nodded. "I understand. I remember when Jayden was in labor. All I could think of was everything that could go wrong and how I could be left all alone again."

Kurt let a soft smile appear on his lips. "I suppose I wouldn't be alone though. I have you, Rose, and Rachel, Finn, Levi, Carole, and Rachel's dads. That's a lot more than I had last time. Oh, he wanted to talk to you, Blaine."

"Right now?" Blaine asked.

"No, later while they're putting the stent in." Kurt said sarcastically. "Of course now."

Blaine glanced up at where Carole was waiting to show him where Burt's room was. "Okay." Blaine said, standing up. "Watch Rose for me?"

"Course." Kurt said as Rose crawled up into his lap.

Blaine silently followed Carole to Burt's bedroom, and knocked on the door. He heard Burt call him in, and he walked into the room and sat in the chair by his bed.

"Hey. How are you feeling?" Blaine asked.

"Okay." Burt said gruffly. "Thanks to Rachel."

"So I heard." Blaine smiled. "You should really have listened to her in the first place. Angina is nearly _always_ sign of heart attack."

"Yeah, I know. Save the lecture. Carole and Kurt already beat you to the punch. But I'm fine." Burt muttered.

"I heard you have to get a stent." Blaine said after a long silence.

"Yeah, but it's not that big of a deal." Burt said. Blaine raised an eyebrow. "I'll be okay." Burt shrugged. "And then Kurt and Carole will be food Nazis for another couple months."

Blaine laughed. "They're just trying to help you."

"Yeah," Burt laughed as well, "but it's fun to give them a hard time." They were quiet for another couple minutes before Burt spoke up again. "Blaine, I had a second scrape with death this morning. I know that I'm fine, and that I'm going to be fine, but it just got me thinking. In the ten years I've known you, I've never thanked you."

Blaine blushed and looked surprised. "F-for what?" he stuttered.

"For saving my son." Burt said simply. "You saved him in so many ways, and Kurt may have forgotten this somewhere between high school and now, but you're the best thing that has ever happened to him. High school was not an easy time for either of you boys. But you saved him from not only the threats and bullies at the time, but from himself."

Blaine nodded. He wasn't exactly sure that Burt was talking about, but he had known that things were pretty bad for Kurt before he met him.

"And not just high school." Burt went on, "If you had asked Kurt about moving back to Lima a couple months after he moved, he would have told you it was one of his worst decisions and that he couldn't wait to move back. Then when you two got in your fight around Christmas, he was so upset for days."

Blaine looked at his feet, feeling ashamed for things he'd said to Kurt.

"I don't blame either of you for that, Blaine. You both may be scarred from your past, probably you more than him, but that doesn't mean you can't overcome everything together." Burt said softly.

Blaine looked up at him. "Thank you." He whispered. "I should really go and let you get some rest."

Blaine was almost at the door when Burt called out his name. He turned. "Yes?"

"There are so many things I should have done with you. I should have tried to find you when you ran away. I should have flown in for the funeral. I should have been there for you." He sighed and looked Blaine in the eye. "I should've said this a long time ago, but I'm really proud of you, kid."

Blaine, eyes filling with tears, took a deep breath and said, "You have no idea how long I've waited to hear that from someone."

* * *

Kurt stayed at the hospital that night, and Blaine took Rose home. She was concerned for Burt, but was also very tired and had school the next day. Blaine had come up with a surprise for Kurt, but had to have his Glee club help him out. They spent the next two days working on their new song, while Kurt stayed with his dad in the hospital.

Kurt wanted to stay at the hospital the whole time, but they had scheduled putting the stent in for the evening and he wouldn't be able to see his father until the next day. So Carole insisted that he go home for the evening and night, and come back the next morning.

Kurt, who had only left the hospital for a couple hours at a time three or four times. Blaine had popped in a couple times to see how Kurt was doing. Burt kept begging Blaine to take Kurt home to get some real sleep, and Blaine tried, but Kurt wasn't having it.

_Kurt, I was wondering if you could come to ELA's auditorium today at 4. Can you do it? –B_

Kurt was going to leave the hospital at four thirty, so he figured he could make it.

_Yeah. I'll be there –Kurt_

_Great(: –B_

Around three forty-five, Blaine was starting to get nervous. What if Kurt took it wrong? What if he was offended? What if— "Mr. A?" one of his Glee kids, Jake, came up behind him. "Are you okay?"

Blaine nodded. "Yeah I'm fine. Kurt should be here soon, so go get everyone ready for me, would you?" Jake nodded and headed off to the stage, directing everyone on what to do. "_And that's why he's one of the captains._" Blaine thought to himself.

The auditorium was empty, save Blaine and Rose, when Kurt got there. "Hey." Kurt called.

"Hey." Blaine said. "Do you like our auditorium?"

Kurt nodded. "It's really nice. How'd you guys get it?"

Blaine gave him a sheepish look. "My grandparents had a _lot_ of money when they died…"

"No way!" Kurt said. "You did this?"

"Renovated." Blaine corrected. "There was already something here. I just paid to update it a little."

"Still, that's amazing." Kurt said. "Is this why you wanted me to come here? To see it?"

"Not exactly." Blaine said. "When I was with the Warblers, I loved it—but the whole club was lacking emotion and feeling. We sang the songs and practiced them until they were perfect. But until you came along, we never realized that Glee club could be something _more_. Then when I went to McKinley those feelings intensified. Singing wasn't just a hobby, it was a way to get emotions out and a way to show your support and love to those around you.

"So when I came here and became the co-director, I tried to model the club here like the New Directions, because that's when music really got meaning for me. So I was sitting at home the day your dad has his heart attack, and I had no idea what to say or do for you. So I called Finn and Rachel and they gave me an idea." He led Kurt to the front couple rows of the auditorium and the two of them sat down. The curtains opened to show two people from Blaine's glee club, Jessica and Dan, in simple black t-shirts and jeans.

_Yeah I'll tell you something_

_I think you'll understand_

_When I say that something_

_I wanna hold your hand_

_I wanna hold your hand_

_I wanna hold your hand_

A couple more students walked out and began singing with the first two.

_Oh please say to me_

_You'll let me be your man_

_And please say to me_

_You'll let me hold your hand_

_Now let me hold your hand_

_I wanna hold your hand_

By now every student was out on the stage, but only Jessica was singing the lyrics, the rest singing back up.

_And when I touch you I feel happy inside_

_It's such a feeling that my love_

_I can't hide, I can't hide_

_I can't hide_

Everyone, for the first time, sang all together for the next part of the song, their harmonies mingling and sounding amazing together.

_Yeah you, got that something_

_I think you'll understand_

_When I feel that something_

_I wanna hold your hand_

_I wanna hold your hand_

_I wanna hold your hand_

And then everyone backed off except for Dan.

_I wanna hold your hand_

Blaine looked over and Kurt was crying, but he was smiling. He hugged Blaine before turning to the show choir on stage. "Thank you all so much, you sounded amazing. I really appreciate this."

Everyone smiled at him, and let out a few, "I'm praying for your dad," "I hope everything with your dad goes well," or "I hope your dad feels better soon."

Kurt smiled at them, thanked them, and then walked out with Blaine and Rose. They went back to Blaine's house and Kurt immediately fell asleep on the couch. Blaine smiled to himself, covered him with a blanket, and let him sleep. He could wake up and worry about his father the next day.

* * *

I just wanna thank everyone who has read this or reviewed or tumblred me about it or anything you've ever done ever to even pretend to like this, because you're all really inspiring and amazing and beautiful! I love you!


	20. Chapter 18

Just a quick note: there will be about five more chapters (not counting this one) and an _then_ epilogue and it'll be over! Only six more weeks guys! Wow. Weeeell, I hope you have enjoyed it thus far as much as I have.

* * *

**Chapter 18**

Burt was getting better and better every day. As he predicted, Kurt and Carole became 'Food Nazis' and wouldn't let him eat _anything_ that his doctor didn't specify was okay. They were also religious with him taking his medication. Kurt was so busy taking care of his father that he and Blaine didn't spend as much time together, but that was okay since Blaine had been asked to speak at graduation.

He had _no idea_ what to say. He still had mild post traumatic stress disorder whenever he went to a graduation—he'd even ditched his own college graduation half way through. But these students had been his History students since they were sophomores, and he really wanted to do this for them. So Blaine planned out his speech while Kurt nursed his father back to health.

But besides that, Blaine had to get his History students ready for finals and his kindergarteners ready for their Kindergarten graduation. They were very disappointed that they wouldn't have Blaine next year, but they had a blast at 'move up day' in the first grade classroom, and every time a little six year old burst into tears, he reminded them of that.

A week before graduation, Kurt called Blaine up. "Blaine Anderson, I haven't seen you or Rose in four days. And when I saw you before, it was for thirty minutes over coffee. This is not acceptable."

Blaine laughed. "I'm free this weekend. What do you want to do?"

"I was thinking of taking Carrie, you, and Rose to the zoo. Has Rose ever been there?" Kurt asked.

"No." Blaine said, "We were going to go a couple months ago, but she got sick and we never chose another date to go."

"How does Saturday sound?" Kurt asked.

"Saturday sounds great. I'll see you then." Blaine said. "I love you."

"Love you too. Bye." And Kurt hung up the phone.

* * *

Blaine and Rose arrived at Kurt's house to pick him up early Saturday morning and they drove to the zoo. Rose was so excited she was bouncing in her seat the whole hour and fifteen minutes to the zoo. When they pulled in the parking lot she unbuckled herself and jumped out of the car.

"Come _on_ Daddy, come _on_ Mr. Kurt, come _on_ Miss Carrie! Hurry up! I wanna get to the zoo!" Rose called, running ahead, stopping, waiting for them to catch up, and then running ahead again. Carrie jogged up to where Rose was and took her hand to keep her in range.

Blaine, much to Kurt and Carrie's protests, bought tickets for the four of them and they went into the zoo.

"Alright Monkey," Carrie said, using her pet name for Rose, "Where should we go first?"

Blaine opened his map. "It looks like most of the zoo is on this one trail, in a circle, so we can walk around it and see everything. Sound alright to you, Rosie?"

Rose nodded vigorously. "Yeah. Now let's _go_!" she grabbed Carrie's hand and started dragging her down the path.

The first things they saw were the flamingos. Rose was momentarily distracted from her mission to find the panthers, her favorite animal, to look at their pink feathers. "Daddy?" she asked, "Why are they standing all funny?"

"You mean on one leg?" Blaine asked. Rose nodded. "Because that's how they sleep, Rosie. Just like you in your bed with your blanket and pillow."

"That's weird." Rose said, continuing on with her walk. This time she grabbed Kurt's hand and dragged him along with her. Their next stop was the Rhinos. "Mr. Kurt?" she asked, "Why do those elephants have their trunks cut off?"

Kurt tried to hide his laugh. "Those aren't elephants. They're called rhinoceroses." Kurt explained.

"Rie-noss-ur-ses." Rose tried to pronounce. Blaine and Carrie watched (and laughed) as Kurt tried to help her say the word right, but to no avail.

"You know what sweetie? Most people just call them rhinos. So we can stick with that." Kurt said, trying not to laugh.

"Good." Rose said, looking seriously relieved, "I was getting scared cause I couldn't say their name right and that would be mean to not know someone's name, but if I know their nicknames then it's okay."

Kurt hid his giggle by grinning. "Good. So say hi to the rhinos!"

"Hi rhinos!" she called.

Next they walked past the giraffes. Rose announced to Miss Carrie that she wanted a pet giraffe for her fifth birthday.

"I'm not sure we could take care of a giraffe, honey." Blaine said.

Rose sighed dramatically. "Well then can we get a panther? Because I've been begging for _months_." In reality, she had been begging for exactly two weeks—since the day she had decided that panthers were her favorite animals, but Blaine let it go.

"I'm not sure about a panther either. Those sound like hard work." He paused. "What about a puppy? Would you be okay with getting a puppy?"

Rose's eyes lit up. "Can I have a blue alien puppy!"

Blaine frowned. "I'm not sure any shelters would have a blue alien puppy, but we can look." Rose cheered and they moved on to the next animal.

The next section of the zoo was the cats. The first animals they came upon were the Tigers and White Bengal Tigers. "White tigers are my favorite zoo animal." Blaine commented. "I've loved them since I was little. When I was six, Cooper and I used to sneak out with his best friend's older brother who would drive us here, to the zoo. They would go off eating all the ice cream they could, talk to the monkeys, hang out at the reptile house, and so on, but I would just plant myself here in front of the white tigers. I literally watched them for hours at a time."

"And the other three just left you, little six year old Blaine, in front of the tigers?" Carrie asked in disbelief.

"Yup. Come to think of it, I'm not sure how I could sit here for so long and not have someone that works here come up to me and ask where my parents were, but I always went about my tiger watching undisturbed." Blaine laughed.

Just then, Rose squealed in excitement. "Daddy! Miss Carrie! Mr. Kurt! The _panthers_ are _right there_!" She pointed towards the next cage and, sure enough, there were the panthers.

So the four spent the next hour sitting in front of the panthers. Eventually an employee of the zoo came over and started talking about their panthers, telling them their names, how old they were, and general facts about panthers. Rose was _thrilled_. She just sat in front of the zoo keeper, absorbing every word—even if she didn't remember it two minutes later.

Rose started talking about how she was hungry, so Blaine saw a little restaurant called 'The Savannah Grill' where they went for lunch. Rose had grilled cheese, fries, and a milkshake while everyone else had burgers and soda. Rose talked and giggled all through lunch about the panthers, and how she was so excited to be at the zoo with her three favorite people.

As soon as they were done with lunch the group went on to the next exhibit—the lions. Rose was _almost_ as excited about the lions as she was about the panthers, since her favorite animal had previously been a lion. "Miss Carrie, are those baby Simbas?" she asked, pointing to the two lion cubs play wrestling.

"Those are baby lions, alright." Carrie said. They kept walking and finished up the large cats section after seeing the cheetahs and the mountain lions.

Rose squealed and grabbed Kurt's hand, pulling him to the next exhibit. "Look Mr. Kurt! Elephants! Like rhinos, only with loooooong noses!" she exclaimed.

Kurt laughed. "Yeah, they do look like the rhinos. You're right." They walked for a little while longer when they heard squealing again—only this time it was from Kurt, not Rose. "I really like penguins, okay?" he laughed, racing ahead to the penguin exhibit.

The penguins were just getting fed, so Kurt and Rose watched in fascination as zoo keepers threw small fish in the air as the penguins caught them. A zoo keeper came up behind Kurt and Rose.

"Do you guys want to throw some in?" she asked, holding out the bag of dead fish.

Their eyes lit up. "Really?" Kurt asked, "Are you serious?"

"Sure!" she smiled. "Just grab a fish and throw it over the glass." Kurt looked at the glass. It didn't even go over his head. So he reached in, grabbed a small fish, and threw it over. Rose giggled happily as a penguin caught it, and as many more penguins started heading towards their side of the pen.

Rose grabbed a fish and Kurt picked her up and put her on his shoulders so she could toss it over. The zoo keeper let the two of them toss the whole bag in, before pointing them to where the sinks to wash their hands were.

"That was _so_ cool." Kurt whispered to Rose. "We got to feed _penguins_!" For the rest of the day, that was all Rose and Kurt could talk about.

A little while later, they saw the gorillas, and then the mere cats. Rose wanted to sit and watch the mere cats for a couple minutes before moving on to the seals, and in a cage next to them, the alligators.

Later they saw zebras, gazelles, antelopes, and many other animals. The last thing on the loop was the reptile house. Rose and Blaine ran from window to window to see the different lizards and snakes.

By the time they finished the loop, it was almost three in the afternoon and they were all exhausted. Blaine was very proud that Rose had only complained once about her feet hurting and being tired, and they headed into the gift shop. Kurt bought a zebra t-shirt and a snake teething ring for Levi, as well as some things for Rachel and Finn.

After showing Blaine, Carrie bought Rose a stuffed giraffe and a stuffed panther. After Blaine bought something as well, they all headed for an ice cream concession stand. After eating their ice cream and walking to the car, Carrie showed Rose the giraffe and panther she'd bought. Rose shrieked with excitement and cuddled them the whole way home.

Blaine first dropped Carrie off at her apartment before turning to Kurt. "Do you want to come over tonight, or do you think you need to go see your dad?"

Kurt thought about it for a second before smiling. "I saw my dad this morning, and he's under the safe guidance of Carole. I think I can leave for one night. Sure, I'll head over to your house."

Blaine looked up at Kurt, trying not to be shy. "Do you want me to take you home and get your car so you can drive back after dinner, or do you want to stay the whole night?"

Kurt smiled and leaned over to kiss Blaine. "I would _love_ to stay the whole night."

Blaine grinned like an idiot the whole way home. After making dinner, eating dinner, and watching a little bit of TV, Rose crashed in her bed wearing her clothes. Blaine changed her into pajamas while she was sleeping, and tucked her into bed. Almost immediately, she was snuggling with her teddy bear, panther, and giraffe all at once.

Blaine walked out to where Kurt was sitting on the couch. "Today was really fun." Kurt said.

Blaine nodded. "It really was. It was nice to hang out all four of us. Like one small misfit family."

Kurt laughed. "Misfit. You can say that again. We are an odd bunch."

"We may be a bunch of misfits, but at least we all love each other." Blaine grinned and shrugged. He walked to the kitchen and grabbed his gift bag from the zoo. He held it out to Kurt. "Here, I got you this."

Kurt took the bag and opened it. Inside were two stuffed penguins with magnets in their beaks, making them look like they were kissing. "Aw!" Kurt said. "Blaine they're adorable!"

"I know they're cheesy, but I thought they were cute, and since you like penguins, and that you used to think you were one," Kurt busted up laughing, "I thought you would like it." Blaine blushed.

Kurt wrapped his arms around Blaine's neck and kissed him. "It is cheesy, but I love it. I can't wait to put it in my room when I get home tomorrow." They cuddled on the couch and let the TV play on. Although the TV was on, they weren't really watching. They talked about everything from their jobs to their families to their lives—as if they hadn't already talked about it all.

After a couple hours of just being together, they headed off to Blaine's room, only to be woken up by a very enthusiastic four year old a few hours later.

* * *

Okay, so I totally used to own those penguins. Well, I think they were penguins... With my memory though, they might've been monkeys or something.

Anywho, hope you liked it, and I'm looking forward to the last five chapters! :)


	21. Chapter 19

Okay I'm sorry, but rereading through this made me utterly depressed, because their tiny senior class is bigger than my whole high school. Because I go to the tiniest school on the planet not counting one room school houses and possibly even counting some of those... ANYWAY. Ignore my poor "small school" ranting and READ ON! :)

* * *

**Chapter 19**

Wednesday was a fairly stressful day for Blaine. In the morning, he arrived at school and lined his kids, along with Miss Stephanie's students (the other kindergarten classroom at the school) by last name in alphabetical order. Then they were given their 'graduation t-shirts' and tiny graduation caps.

After making sure shoes were tied and hats were on straight, they let them march down the aisle in the school gymnasium. They lined up and sat in the front two rows—they each had a chair with their name on it.

For a couple minutes each, Blaine and Stephanie talked about how great the kids were this year, how they were a joy to have in their classes, and how proud of them they were. Next the first grade teachers said how excited they were to have them in their classes next year.

Then they called each child's name, who would walk up to them. Stephanie would move the tassel to the other side of their hat and Blaine would hand them a diploma (which was really just a certificate he and Stephanie made on the computer and printed on pretty paper, but the kids loved it nonetheless). After, they had cake and ice cream. Many of the students came up to Miss Stephanie and Mr. A to give them handmade cards and gifts.

Later that afternoon, around lunch, Blaine went to eighth grade graduation. While he didn't have them for any classes, all of the teachers went to all the graduations, so he went. A couple of the students came up to him afterwards and told him how excited they were to take his geography class next year, and other History classes in the following years. He smiled, said that he was excited to have them, and congratulated them.

Usually, Blaine didn't have to worry much about the afternoon and evening graduations. He just had to get through kindergarten graduation and then just be able to sit through the last two. Blaine finished grading his last final test when his cell phone alarm went off, telling him to get ready for senior graduation. Rose still couldn't sit through three graduations in one day, so Carrie was watching her for the evening.

Blaine put on his dress pants, buttoned up his shirt, and tied his bow tie. After sliding on his shoes and grabbing his jacket, Blaine kissed his daughter good bye and walked to his car. He drove to the school and parked in faculty parking—the student lot was already full. As he walked in he saw many excited families and nervous graduates alike. Someone made an announcement into the microphone that families and friends needed to start making their way to their seats.

Blaine was walking to the front, where there was a special seat on stage for him. All of a sudden, there were hands in front of his eyes. "Guess who!"

Blaine grinned and turned. "Kurt, what are you doing here? I thought you were babysitting Levi tonight."

Kurt shrugged. "Change of plans. Rachel came down with the flu a couple hours ago, so she and Finn aren't going out."

Blaine frowned. "Bad luck. I hope she gets feeling better. And I hope that Levi and Finn don't get it."

Kurt nodded. "I do too. But I'm happy I get to hear my boyfriend's brilliant speech."

Blaine groaned "Ugh, don't remind me. I'm about to throw up, just thinking about it."

Kurt laughed and hugged him. "You'll do great. I believe in you." Just then Jeremy, the senior class president, told Blaine that they needed him on the stage. "Good luck!" Kurt called. Blaine flashed a smile Kurt's way before heading to the seat reserved for him. Next to him was the school's principal, next to her the senior class sponsor (also the science teacher), and next to him the college counselor. Blaine smiled at them as he sat down.

The junior class walked down the aisle and sat in the front row, and then Blaine watched as twenty-six graduates marched down the aisle and sat in their seats on the stage. The different class officers had different jobs throughout the program—one doing the welcome, one presenting the class gift, one introducing the college counselor (who presented different scholarships that some students got), and so on. Next Jeremy gave his speech and Blaine knew it was almost time for him.

Anna, the class secretary, walked up to the podium. "Our second year of high school, we walked into our World History class after not having History in a whole school year. Many of us despised History class in junior high, and we were _not_ looking forward to going back. Then a new teacher, twenty three and fresh out of college at his first real class, showed up. Within minutes, he gained our full respect and attention. Throughout the course of the year, History became many of our favorite class. But we got more from Mr. A than the dates of battles in World War Two and the names of the past Presidents of our country.

"We all received somebody who cares about us; someone who's office door is open and cell phone is on twenty four seven if we need someone to talk to. We got someone who would drive hours to come get us if we found ourselves in uncomfortable situations, and we got someone who loves us unconditionally, no matter who or what we were or are. But we didn't just get a friend and learn about history, Mr. A taught us so much about life. So ladies and gentlemen, please welcome our speaker, Mr. Blaine Anderson."

There was a brief applause as Blaine took his notes and went up to the podium. He turned and smiled. "Thanks so much, Anna. You have no idea what that all means to me. I really do love you guys."

Blaine took a deep breath and glanced down at his neatly written notes. "I spent hours trying to decide what I should tell you guys. What would you want to hear? What is worthy of a graduation?" he paused and found Kurt in the audience. "I kept coming up with ideas and scraping them. Rose must think I'm crazy after how much I've been talking to myself this past week." A couple people laughed. "But then a couple days ago, my boyfriend game me an idea." Blaine stopped and hoped that Anna had been right—that everyone _did_ know he was gay. There weren't too many shocked faces, so he went on.

"He said, 'What is the one thing you want these kids to know before they enter the real world? What would you say to them if they could only remember one thing you ever told them?' So I thought about that and I battled between a few things. So this is my last word: live."

"As cheesy as it sounds, now is the time. You're young, seventeen to nineteen year olds, with your whole lives ahead of you. Now is the time to live. Now is the time to have fun. Now is the time for everything. You guys have _years_ of time to grow up—but for right now, make tons of friends, meet tons of different people. Now is when you'll make your lifetime friendships—but don't let go the ones you already have." Blaine saw a few girls link hands and smile at each other.

He went on. "Now is the time for adventure. Take a year of college in Europe. Go on that mission trip your friends have been talking about. Change your major six times. Take classes just for the fun of it. Try out for that TV show or singing or dancing competition. Date around. Live life to the fullest. You don't regret the things you shouldn't have done as much as you regret the things you _should_ have_._ Celebrate the As you get on the papers and tests and classes you excel in. Celebrate your first real job. Celebrate your wedding. Celebrate your child's birth and birthdays after. Life is about adventure. Life is about living." Blaine glanced down at his notes and took another deep breath.

"But remember: life happens. Good things will happen. Celebrate them. But bad things will happen, too. Life is going to be throwing lemons at you as long as you're breathing, so get used to it." Everyone laughed. "You'll get into fights with your best friend. You and your college roommate will give each other the silent treatment. Your girlfriend will break up with you. Your grandparents will get sick. You'll end up in the emergency room with your kids.

"But that's _life_. It's going to kick you, hit you, scratch you, beat you up, and expect you to go on and pretend that you're all okay even when you're not. And all you can do is pick yourself up, brush yourself off, and keep pressing on, because there _is_ sunshine once you get through the rain." Blaine looked at his students and knew that each of them knew he, even at only twenty six, was speaking from experience.

He took another deep breath to finish. "You guys are all extraordinarily talented, insanely smart, and extremely enthusiastic for life. You _can_ set the world on fire, and you _will_ burn brighter than the sun." he saw recognition flash across a few faces and he looked away from the graduating class to the people in the audience. "All I have to say now is: get ready world. The East Lima Academy class of 2021 is coming, and you better brace yourselves. Because if you don't, you'll be left in their dust. Congratulations, class of 2021. Go get 'em."

Everyone clapped, and a couple graduates grinned at Blaine. He grinned back and sat down. Then the principal and class sponsor walked up to the podium. After saying a couple words, they started handing out the diplomas. As the students walked out of the auditorium, Blaine and the other faculty exited the stage. Blaine was on his way to the lobby to congratulate a couple of students when he felt a pair of arms wind around him.

"Boo!" Kurt exclaimed in his ear. "You were amazing, Blaine."

Blaine laughed. "Thanks. And thanks for helping me out earlier this week. I couldn't have done it without you."

Kurt took his hand and they started walking to the lobby. Blaine glanced around and saw Anna, clutching Sara's hand, running towards him, looking excited. "Mr. A!" she called.

"Hey Anna, hello Sara." He smiled. "Kurt, this is my student Anna and her girlfriend Sara. Anna, Sara, this is my boyfriend Kurt."

Anna reached out to shake Kurt's hand, and Sara did also. Kurt's eyes bugged out at Sara's dress. "Hey, I designed that!"

Sara grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, my dad works at the company so I get some of the stuff before it's actually released to stores."

"Well it looks great on you." Kurt said.

Sara beamed at him. "Thank you."

"Mr. A!" Anna said, bringing everyone's attention back to her. "You'll never guess what happened last night. You know how Sara goes to Boston University? And how I got accepted there a couple weeks ago?" Blaine nodded. Anna held out her hand to show a simple yet pretty ring. "Sara and I are getting married."

"Wow!" Blaine exclaimed. "Anna that's amazing. Congratulations, both of you!"

"Thanks!" she giggled. "The wedding isn't for another year, but I was just too excited _not_ to tell you."

Blaine grinned at the two girls. "I'm so happy for you two." The girls walked off, still holding hands. He turned to Kurt. "She turned eighteen eleven days ago, and she's already engaged. Wow. But I'm really excited for them."

He and Kurt went back to Blaine's house a couple hours later. Rose was asleep and Carrie was reading on the couch. She glanced up at them as they walked into the room. "Hey. How was the graduation?"

"Pretty good." Blaine said.

"I see you didn't die." Carrie teased.

"It was a close call." Blaine nodded seriously.

Carrie looked at Kurt. "I know he'll lie to me. How did he do?"

"Amazing." Kurt laughed. "He talked about living life to the fullest and not letting good things pass you by, and not to let the hard times get you down."

Carrie nodded. "I'm sure it was great." She turned back to Blaine. "The monkey's been asleep for about an hour now." She stood up. "I'll see you later?" she asked as she put her book in her bag.

"Yeah," Blaine said, "Could you watch her Friday night from seven to eleven maybe?" he asked.

"What are you doing?" Kurt asked.

Blaine smirked. "Taking my boyfriend out. I want to celebrate the beginning of my summer vacation with him. Friday is my last day."

Kurt laughed. "This is a very odd way of asking someone out."

Blaine shrugged. "Since when have I been normal?"

Carrie laughed and kissed both Blaine and Kurt on their cheeks. "Silly boys. I'll see you on Friday, alright?" she walked out the door. Kurt then kissed Blaine goodbye and left as well. Blaine went into Rose's room, kissed her goodnight, and headed to his room for bed.

* * *

Friday night, Blaine and Kurt went to The Lima Bean and then Breadstix for old time sake. Afterward, they headed to the park they used to love to walk in, though neither of them mentioned that it was the same park that Kurt broke up with Blaine in. They walked silent, hand in hand, lost in their thoughts until they got to the bench that they sat on all those years ago. Quietly, they sat down on the bench and watched the other couples and families walk by.

Blaine glanced over at Kurt, tears threatening to appear. "Kurt, what are we doing?"

Kurt looked over at him, confused. "What do you mean?"

"You're going back to New York in a couple weeks." Blaine said sounding upset. "What are we doing?"

Kurt was still confused. "What do you mean? Why can't we just do the long distance thing again?"

"Oh, because it worked so well last time?" Blaine said, trying to stop his voice from rising.

"What, do you not trust me?" Kurt asked slightly offended.

Blaine couldn't stop the words before they left his mouth. "You did it once. Who's to say you won't do it again?" He regretted it the instant he said it, but somehow was too upset to care.

"How can you say that? You know me better than that!" Kurt exclaimed.

"Yeah, I thought I knew you then too. And look how that worked out for me." Blaine muttered.

"We're not teenagers anymore, Blaine." Kurt said. "We've matured and grown up."

"We?" Blaine exclaimed, suddenly enraged. "What the hell do you mean by 'we,' Kurt? How did I take part in ending our relationship last time?"

"You ran away before I could explain!" Kurt explained, failing in staying calm.

Blaine couldn't believe his ears. It was _his_ fault that they hadn't made up because he was offended that Kurt had cheated on him? "Before you could explain? Explain what? How you were making out with another guy behind my back? About how you couldn't man up and just break up with me like any normal person before moving on to someone new? What was there left to explain? I didn't want to stick around and have a casual conversation with the guy who cheated on me!"

"Letting me talk to you about it would've been nice!" Kurt retorted.

"Except I have more self respect than that." Blaine said angrily.

"And then," Kurt went on, "you ran away to California and never let me apologize or try to make it up to you or _anything_."

"I didn't run away to LA; I went to _college_ there." Blaine found he was yelling.

"Because you had to choose the college across the country? And you sold your house and got rid of any means of communication with you? _That's_ running away Blaine." Kurt yelled back.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me." Blaine muttered. "I wasn't running away from you. A much as you might not believe it, my life didn't revolve around you! I don't know if you remember, but I had just lost my whole family in a plane accident. So excuse me if I wanted to get away from that while I was still grieving."

"But you never dealt with it! And you know what? You still haven't dealt with it. Bad things happen to everyone. But you want to know a secret? Everyone else accepts it and grows up! You're always going on about 'poor teenage Blaine who lost his family when he was eighteen, _eight years ago_. And he's so miserable and everyone should feel bad for him forever because he's so _wounded_. Blaine. Grow up. You're not eighteen anymore. They're _gone_ and they're not coming back no matter what pity party you throw. You act like you're the only person who has ever lost anyone" Kurt breathed hard for a couple moments as Blaine stared at him.

"Your mom died when you were eight, Kurt. And you still had your dad. Who had a heart attack a couple weeks ago and you were a mess. Imagine if your dad, Carole, Finn, Rachel, and Levi all died in a car accident or something. You would be even more of a mess." Blaine said.

"Yes, but I wouldn't stop living because of it! I wouldn't expect every person I meet to feel bad for me! I wouldn't run away from everything!" They didn't know when they had, but Kurt and Blaine found that they were standing and yelling at each other. Neither of them cared that people were staring.

"You're not eighteen!" Blaine yelled.

"Neither are you!" Kurt responded. There was a long pause where the two just stared at each other in anger and disbelief. "You're so busy feeling bad for yourself that you can't keep up functional relationships with anybody, and I'm sick of it!" Kurt replied, equally as loud.

"Well then why don't you go running off to New York again find a new guy to fuck, and get the hell away from me and my daughter." Blaine said.

"Because you're _so_ good for her yourself?" Kurt exclaimed, "She doesn't deserve to grow up with a dysfunctional father."

"You know what?" Blaine said. "Fuck you. I don't need you. So go back to New York and whore around like you know you want to."

Kurt just gaped at him before turning and walking away. Blaine called after him a couple times, immediately feeling bad for his words, but Kurt never turned. Blaine groaned and collapsed on the bench.

Blaine suddenly felt a strong hate for the stupid, cold, stone bench. Every time he'd lost Kurt, it had happened right here. It was where the worst couple months of his life began, and it was now where he lost what he considered the turning point of his life.

After what must have been an hour or two, Blaine pushed himself up off the bench and drove home. Carrie took one look at the distress on his face and took him into her arms. That was when Blaine let himself cry.

And she just sat there and let him.

* * *

I'M SORRY. WELL. I'M NOT. BUT. I JUST... sigh...


	22. Chapter 20

I'M SORRY FOR FORGETTING YESTERDAY, IF YOU WANT MY EXCUSES THEY'RE AT THE BOTTOM.

* * *

**Chapter 20**

The months of summer went quickly. Blaine spent most of it making lesson plans, driving Rose to play dates and swimming lessons, and playing at the cafés and bars, even getting some calls from some people in Findlay, Kenton, and Westerville wanting him to play at various events. Which, if Blaine was honest, was literally a dream come true, since he'd thought he'd completely given up on anything musical long ago.

Soon school started back up though, and Rose was anything but upset about starting Kindergarten and making new friends. In fact, it was all she could talk about the last month of summer. October came quickly, and before Blaine knew it, it was Rose's fifth birthday.

Blaine snuck into his daughter's bedroom that morning around 7:00am. She was sleeping soundly with the teddy bear Kurt won her at the fair nestled in her arms. It almost broke Blaine's heart how much she missed her 'Mr. Kurt.'

But that was over now. It was fun while it lasted, but Kurt had moved back to New York, Blaine was still in Lima, and they hadn't made any contact since early June. Shaking his head quickly, as if to shake the memories away, Blaine made his way over to Rose's bed.

"Morning Rosie." He whispered in her ear before kissing her cheek.

She yawned adorably and turned to look at him. "Morning, Daddy."

Blaine grinned."Happy birthday, Princess."

That got her out of bed quickly. "Daddy!" She exclaimed, "I'm five years old today!"

"Are you really?" Blaine asked, feigning surprise. "Wow, that's so old!"

"Not as old as you." Rose said, kissing Blaine on the cheek and jumping out of her bed. "Now get out of my room. I'm five now. I'm old enough to get myself ready for school."

"Oh, you are, are you?" Blaine laughed. Rose nodded seriously and pushed Blaine out of the room.

Ten minutes later, Rose walked out in the most ridiculous outfit ever. Once he convinced her that she didn't _really _need three shirts or a tutu over her jeans, and that she _did_ need socks under her tennis shoes, she looked suitable for school. As soon as Blaine was ready for work, he loaded himself and Rose into the car, ("Yes Rose, five year olds still have to sit in car seats.") they were off.

Unbeknownst to Rose, Blaine had gotten a substitute for his afternoon classes and talked to Miss Stephanie ahead of time to let her know he would be picking her up at 12:00. Rose still allowed him to hold her hand as he walked her to the front door.

He leaned down to give her a kiss. "Bye, Rosie. I'll see you later."

"Bye Daddy!" she replied, kissing him in return.

The day went fairly quickly. The kindergarteners in his class this year were all really fast learners, and were in turn really fun for Blaine to teach. Same with his high school classes, actually. It was almost like the world was deciding to give him a break for the first time in his life.

_Not that I don't deserve it, after all I've put up with_. Blaine thought. Which reminded him of Kurt and how Kurt had told him to stop feeling bad for himself. Which reminded him of the terrible things he'd said to Kurt. Which-ow-hurt. When 11:45 hit the clock and all the Kindergarten parents arrived to pick up their kids, Blaine grabbed Rose's balloon and cake from his office and headed next door. Stephanie glanced at him as she read the next page in the book she was reading.

Since the school was pretty big for the size of their campus (328 students ages five to eighteen all on seven acres), and the high schoolers had odd class schedules, the elementary classrooms got their lunches delivered to their rooms. The lunch ladies were setting up the kindergarteners' lunches when Blaine arrived. When Miss Stephanie finished her book, all the kids turned around to see Blaine standing in the doorway with a birthday balloon and a birthday cake.

"Daddy!" Rose squealed. Blaine quickly set the cake down on a table so he could grab his daughter as she flew into his arms. "Is this for my birthday?" Blaine grinned and nodded.

"Alright, everyone. Get in line for lunch. After you eat, we can have some of Rose's cake and sing her happy birthday." The kids chorused a "Yes, Miss Stephanie" before filing in to the line. Blaine watched as his daughter talked excitedly with her friends while their plates were filled with food.

Stephanie handed Blaine a plate (he usually ate in the high school teacher's lounge or in the cafeteria) and the two ate their own food. "Mr. A?" Riley, who was still Rose's best friend, asked. "Will you sit at Rose's and my table?"

"Of course I will." Stephanie handed him one of the tiny sized chairs. He took it, and his plate of food, over to Riley and Rose's desks. Then Blaine just watched. It wasn't very often that he got to watch his daughter interact with her friends. Recess, he supposed, since they had some recesses together, and when he came to get her from daycare after school, but usually he was teaching his own classes.

Rose, Riley, and Jared (their other table mate) were giggling about the pictures they drew that morning in art class. Soon enough, everyone had finished their lunches. They sang 'Happy Birthday' to Rose and ate their cake. When the festivities were finished (and it was time for recess) Blaine told Rose that they she could stay at school if she wanted or they could spend that afternoon together.

"Can we just go home and watch a movie? And then maybe go out to dinner?" she asked.

"Where would you want to go for dinner, honey?" he asked.

"Hm…" Rose thought hard. "Can we go to that bread place Mr. Kurt took us to after we went to the zoo?"

"Breadstix?" Blaine asked.

"Yeah!" Rose exclaimed, clapping her hands in excitement. "And I can wear the new dress you bought me last week, and you can dress up too, and it'll be so much fun daddy!"

Blaine grinned. "Alright. When do you want to watch the movie?"

Rose bit her lower lip. "Can we go to the park first? I really like the swings there."

Blaine nodded. "Of course, sweetie. Let's go." Rose packed up her backpack, hugged Riley and Miss Stephanie good bye, and headed out the door with her daddy. They went to the park and she spent almost two hours swinging on the swings, hanging from the monkey bars, and playing in the sandbox.

Around two o'clock, she ran over and grabbed her dad's hand. "Okay, daddy. Can we go watch a movie now?"

"Of course!" he said, kissing her cheek. "What do you want to watch?"

They climbed into the car (and Rose in her car seat) as she pondered over which movie to watch. "Can we watch Lion King?"

"Um…" Blaine pretended to think about it, "Yes!"

Rose giggled from her place in the back seat of their car. "Daddy?" she asked when they pulled onto their street, "Who's car is that?"

Blaine looked and, sure enough, a rental car was parked outside of their house. They couldn't tell if anyone was in it or not. '_Maybe they're at the front door_.' Blaine thought, '_It's hard to see it from the street…_'

Helping Rose out of her car seat, the two walked to the front door. When Blaine saw who it was, he couldn't believe his eyes.

"Mr. Kurt!" Rose exclaimed, launching herself at the older man.

"Hey, Rose." He grinned, hugging her as tight as he could. "I missed you."

Rose kissed his cheek. "I missed _you_. And you made it in time for my birthday! But you probably didn't know, but that's okay. I don't blame you. Are you here for a while? Are you coming to dinner with us? Do you want to watch Lion King with us?"

Kurt looked as Blaine's conflicted face. On one hand, his daughter _loved_ Kurt. She loved spending time with him, and this would really make her birthday special. But on the other hand, wouldn't it make things incredibly awkward? He and Kurt didn't exactly end on good terms. He actually recalled himself yelling something along the lines of, "fuck you, I don't need you," and something about him being a whore...?

Kurt shook his head. "I'd _love_ to, sweetie, but I really have to get back home. My plane leaves tonight. I just wanted to personally bring you your birthday present."

Rose's eyes lit up. "You _remembered_? Wow Mr. Kurt! What is it, what is it!" she was bouncing on her toes.

"It's in my car, let me go get it. Wait here." Kurt walked over to his rental car, and Blaine followed.

"Don't think you can't spend time with her because of me. You two can do something together alone tonight if you want." Blaine muttered.

"No, I really do have a plane to catch." Kurt said. "But thanks for the offer." They were both quiet for a moment, "I'm really sorry. About everything, but especially about how I acted last December, and last June. I guess I was still upset at my high school self, and ironically taking it out on you. You didn't deserve it, you'll never deserve it, and I'll never deserve you."

"Kurt," Blaine began.

"No, shhh. Just please, _please_, let me apologize. I know I can't make it up to you, and I know being around isn't going to make it better because I'm still in love with you. But everything I love ends up broken, and you've been broken enough without me. I know coming back just to tell you that I'm sorry and I love you probably wan't the best idea, but a text or email or even phone call weren't enough." Kurt stared at his feet and glanced up at Blaine, almost shyly. "I just wanted you to know that I'm really, _really_ sorry, and that I'm on my way out of your life, and you'll never have to deal with me again. I mean, except if we accidentally see each other while I'm in town visiting my parents."

"Kurt," Blaine tried again.

"I'm almost done, I promise." Kurt said softly. "All I really want is for you to be happy, Blaine, and all I do it say awful things to you in fits of anger. I want you to find someone who will adore you and always love you and never give you crap and always be there for you instead of kicking you while you're down. Someone who will treasure you for the incredible person you are. Someone who will open you up enough to forgive yourself for things you had no control over, but blame yourself for nonetheless. Someone who will treat Rose like a princess and love her for every ounce of perfection that she is. And if you can find that, I'll be content about loving you from six hundred miles away."

Blaine was silent for a minute, trying to hold back tears. Finally he asked, "now can I speak?"

Kurt laughed, "Please do."

"I," Blaine paused, "thank you. That meant a lot to me." He grinned over at Kurt, "Now you better actually have a birthday present for Rosie or she'll be really upset."

Kurt smirked and pointed through the back window of his rental car. Blaine peered through the part-way down window, trying to see what Rose's present was. Curled up in the back seat was a little brown and black puppy with a pink 'happy birthday' bow around its neck.

"Kurt!" Blaine cooed, "it's adorable!"

Kurt blushed and smiled. "I know you two were talking about getting a puppy that one time when we were at the zoo. I called Carrie and asked if you'd gotten one yet, and if you still wanted one. She said you kept talking about it, and I understand if you want me to take him back, or whatever, but he's a rescue from the local shelter, I know you care about stuff like that, and he's nine weeks old, so he's still a puppy, but I can give you money for puppy training classes if you want, and he's part collie part coon hound, and he's really sweet and loves giving kisses all the time and… Blaine, are you going to say something?"

Blaine smiled widely at Kurt. "This is amazing. Rose will _love_ him. Thank you so much." Kurt smiled weakly, as if he was afraid that Blaine wouldn't let him give the puppy to Rose. "Do you want to take him to her?" Blaine offered.

Kurt nodded and opened the car door. The puppy looked up and started wagging his tail lazily when he saw Kurt and Blaine. "C'mere honey." Kurt said. The puppy got up and walked towards Kurt, who picked him up and grabbed the bag puppy food. He asked Blaine to grab the small dog bed and the leash. Then the two boys took Rose her puppy.

She squealed louder than Kurt or Blaine ever had heard. "Mr. Kurt! Is that your puppy?"

"Nope." Kurt grinned, "he's _your_ puppy!"

Rose looked at Blaine excitedly. "Really?"

Blaine grinned, happy to see his daughter so happy. "Really."

The three spent the next half hour or so deciding where to put all the dog stuff. They hung up his leash by the door, where Blaine kept his keys, and put the dog bed on the floor in the living room. The food was against the wall, under Blaine's school calendar, in the kitchen.

"What's his name?" Rose asked, scratching the puppy's belly.

Kurt shrugged and smiled. "He doesn't have a name. _You_ get to choose it."

Rose took a long second to think. "But I can't think of any puppy names."

"That's okay." Kurt said. "You and your daddy can come up with one later. He doesn't mind not having a name for a little bit."

Rose shook her head, "but you have to go back to New York tonight, Mr. Kurt. And I want you to know his name!" She kept thinking for a few more minutes before her face lit up; she turned to Blaine and asked, "Daddy, what was that movie about the blue dog alien thing?"

Blaine and Kurt shared a confused look. "Lilo and Stitch?" Blaine asked.

"Yeah!" Rose explained, then paused looking confused. "Which one was the dog's name?"

Kurt laughed, remembering that she had fallen asleep half way through. "Stitch."

Rose grinned. "Yeah. Stitch. I want to name the puppy Stitch. Because all three of us were together when we watched it so it's _perfect_."

Blaine laughed. "Alright, Stitch it is."

Kurt smiled at the father, daughter, and puppy. "Alright guys, well I should probably head out. My plane leaves in a couple hours, and I still have to stop by my dad's house and drive to the airport."

Rose's bottom lip quivered at the thought of Kurt leaving. "But… But you just got here, and you already have to say good bye?"

Kurt nodded, trying not to let the girl's tears cause him to cry. "I'm sorry, honey. Here, I'll make you a deal. I'll come back over Christmas vacation, and if it's okay with your daddy, we can go Christmas shopping together. Just the two of us. Does that sound okay?"

Rose looked up at him and nodded. "Okay. That sounds like fun. How long until Christmas?" she asked.

Kurt smiled and hugged her. "Three months. I'll be back to see you in three months."

Rose looked at him. "You promise?"

Kurt smiled. "Promise."

Rose still wasn't convinced. She held out her tiny pinky. "Pinky promise?"

Kurt wrapped his finger around hers. "I pinky promise that I will be back in December and we will go shopping together. Maybe we'll even go to a movie, or a park, or lunch."

Rose went back to wrapping her arms around Kurt's neck. "I'd like that a lot."

"So would I." Kurt smiled softly. After a few more minutes of goodbyes (from Rose _and _Stitch) Kurt headed out the door.

So Rose and Blaine watched their movie and, as insisted by Rose, they dressed up and went to Breadstix. Once they were home, Blaine tucked Rose into bed (after putting Stitch's bed in her room as well, thanks to her persistence) and headed out to the kitchen, where their answering machine was lighting up. They had five messages.

The first one was from his substitute, telling him that everything had gone well that day and she'd left everything on his desk. The second was from Carrie, wishing Rose a happy birthday. The third was Jay's parents, wishing their granddaughter a happy birthday. The fourth was from the Principal at the school, telling Blaine that staff meeting tomorrow after school was postponed until next Monday. The fifth was Burt Hummel asking Blaine to call him as soon as he got this message, no matter what time.

Blaine opened his cell phone to see that he had seven missed calls and two texts from Burt, asking the same thing. So Blaine, now worried, hit the redial button. He only had to wait two rings before Burt picked up.

_"Blaine?"_

"Hey, Burt. I got your messages. I guess I forgot to turn the sound on my phone after school today. What's wrong?"

_"It's Kurt. He was in an accident, and he's at the hospital."_

* * *

Okay, so in my defense it's been a really drama-filled weekend. Thursday night my sister left to go to a Giants game with her boyfriend, Friday morning my mom (my school's Athletic Director) had to leave for a Volleyball tournament this weekend, and Friday afternoon I left to go to Chico with my church's youth band (where I sing/play bass). My phone died because it's battery lasts like, 0.4 seconds but around 10 I turned it back on to see how long the dead battery would last, and I got a text from my mom basically saying "Dad wasn't feeling well and he threw up a lot and he got very weak, passed out, and fell, so (my other sister) called 911 and they're in the hospital." Then my phone died again.

And so I was freaking out and called my sister on someone else's phone, and they had no idea what caused it and so we were all freaking out and stressing. My mom borrowed someone's car and drove home from the volleyball tournament that night. They let him leave the hospital around midnight and he's doing a lot better but he's really weak and tired and this is the second time this has happened, but the first he's gone to the hospital for it. He has to go in for more tests on Monday, but he's okay now. But yesterday when I got home from my trip, I was still stressing and freaking out so I wasn't thinking about much else...

Sorry for my long-winded story. If you're the type of person who prays, please pray for my dad and whatever's wrong with him and that we figure it out, if not, thanks for reading anyway. See you next week! :)


	23. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

Blaine was silent. He had no idea what to say.

Burt continued._ "I know you two have had your differences in the past, but I thought you'd like to know."_

Blaine was stunned, and felt the all too familiar wave of numbness wash over him. "Oh god. Is he okay?"

Burt made a noncommittal noise. _"We don't know. They can't tell us anything yet."_

"Which hospital?" Blaine asked. Burt told him. It was the same one Carrie worked at. "I'll be right over. I have a friend who works the night shift at the ER there sometimes, and she's on tonight. She might be able to help us get something out of them."

He quickly grabbed Stitch and put him in the laundry room with his bed, food, water, and blankets. Then, without waking her up, he grabbed Rose, Rose's blanket, and Rose's teddy bear and put her in her car seat. Blaine drove as carefully yet quickly as he could and headed to the hospital. Wrapping his daughter in her blanket and handing her the teddy bear, he hurried inside. Rose, still half asleep, curled into her father's chest.

When he arrived inside, Burt stood up and motioned him over. Carole, Rachel, Finn, Levi, and he were all sitting together, worried looks on their faces. "Has anyone heard anything?" Blaine asked.

Burt shook his head. "No. They're still in there with him." Blaine nodded, let Burt take Rose from him, and went to the front desk. "Is Carrie Thurman here?" he demanded.

The man at the front desk (who he vaguely recognized as one of this year's first grader's dads, which meant he possibly taught their child last year) nodded. "She is here, but she's with a patient. I can let her know you came by, Blaine."

Blaine nodded. "Yeah, that'd be great. Just, who is she with?"

The man shook his head slowly. "I can't tell you that."

"Is she with Kurt Hummel?" he asked anxiously.

The man shook his head. "You'll have to wait until she comes out."

Blaine took a deep calming breath and nodded. "Alright. Thanks anyway." He returned and sat by Burt. But he could only sit so long before he stood up and started pacing. After a couple minutes, he felt Rose tug on his shirt.

"Daddy?" she whispered, "Are you okay?"

Blaine wanted to cry, but he knew he needed to pretend he was okay, if only for Rose. "Yeah, I'm okay honey."

"Why are we at a hospital?" she asked.

Blaine hesitated before deciding to tell her "Because Mr. Kurt got into a car accident, Rosie."

Her eyes widened, her face turned white, and he saw the fear cross her face immediately. "Like mommy did?" she whispered.

Blaine leaned down and pulled her into a hug. "Oh honey, I don't know." She started to cry into his shirt. "Shhh, honey, shhh. It's okay. It'll be okay."

"But mommy wasn't." Rose insisted. Blaine half regretted telling her about what happened to her mom, but a couple weeks ago she had asked why she didn't have a mommy and Riley and Jared did. And that led her to wonder why she had grandparents that weren't Daddy's parents, and why she _didn't_ have grandparents who _were_ daddy's parents. So Blaine pulled out some pictures from college and told her the whole story. "Is Mr. Kurt going to be okay?"

"I hope so, sweetie."

"But mommy wasn't!" she insisted again.

"No," Blaine whispered, trying to figure out how to say this. "Mommy wasn't. But mommy was killed as soon as she got in the accident, and Mr. Kurt is still alive hours later." He explained. Rose, with her tear-streaked face, nodded and hugged her father.

Blaine heard the door open and turned to see Carrie walking out. "Blaine!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

Blaine couldn't hold his panic back. "Kurt was in an accident, and he's in Lima for Rose's birthday and he brought Stitch and he was on his way to the airport and his car and Jayden and—"

"Shhh, Blaine, it's okay. Calm down." she tried to sooth him, but she knew Blaine well enough to know that he was in full freak out mode.

"Kurt came back to Lima for Rose's birthday, and he bought her a puppy, and he was driving back to the airport and he got in an accident. Have you seen him? Is he okay?" Blaine begged.

"I was with him while he was in critical condition, but I'm not still with him because of conflict of interest. I haven't seen him recently, but I came to talk to Carole and Burt to see how they were holding up. I didn't know you would be here." Carrie explained.

"Okay, but you need to find out what's wrong and if he's okay and what's going on. Carrie we need to know what's going on." Blaine said urgently.

"Shhh, Blaine it's okay. I know the nurses he's with. He's in good hands. They'll tell Burt and Carole as soon as they know anything. It's okay, honey." Carrie tried to sooth him, but he only calmed for a few seconds before standing back up and pacing around the room.

Then, all of a sudden, Blaine felt terrible. He remembered what Kurt had said to him the day they broke up the second time. '_You're so busy feeling bad for yourself…_' Blaine groaned and mentally hit himself. If this was nerve-racking for him, he couldn't imagine what this would feel like for Burt. If something ever happened to Rose…

Blaine went to go sit down, but noticed Carole was the only one there. "Where did everyone go?" he asked.

Carole looked up from the magazine she was pretending to read. "Finn, Rachel, Levi, and Rose were getting hungry and Burt was getting antsy just sitting here, so they went to the hospital cafeteria to get something to eat. They said they would bring something back for us, too." She explained.

"Oh." Blaine said. "So how has Levi been? He must be almost nine months old now, right?"

Carole smiled. "Yeah, he's doing really well. He can walk as long as he's holding on to things, but talks up a storm if we let him, even if he only makes sense about five percent of the time, since he only knows three words. Rachel and Finn are talking about moving back to New York with him, though."

Blaine nodded. "That would be good for Rachel, to be back in the city. It's where she belongs. But it wouldn't be much fun to be so far away from your grandchild."

Carole laughed. "I suppose you would know. I'm sure Rose's grandparents give you hell for taking their grand kid across country."

Blaine forced a smile. "I get lectured on it at least once a week."

Carole opened her mouth to reply when they saw the doors open again, and a vaguely familiars nurse walked out and walked to Carole "Are you Kurt Hummel's mother?"

Carole nodded "Yes, do you know anything yet?" Burt, Rachel, Finn, Rose, and Levi came in to the room and she motioned them over.

"He's doing much better. We stabilized him, but he's lost a lot of blood from when the window shattered. He had a concussion from hitting his head on the steering wheel—the airbag didn't activate. He has a couple broken ribs, his right tibia is shattered and his right radius is cracked." She paused. "He's lucky. In a crash like this, he could have been so much worse off. Because of his concussion he _is_ in a coma. But he has no internal bleeding or other inner problems. He is pretty bruised and scratched up, though."

Everyone breathed a mini sigh of relief. While the coma was still to be worried about, at least they knew what was going on and exactly how bad it was.

"Is the coma from the concussion or is it drug induced?" Carole asked.

"It's from the concussion, so we're watching it very closely." The nurse said.

"I thought people with concussions weren't supposed to sleep." Finn commented, glancing down at the baby in his arms to avoid everyone else's eyes.

"Yes, but we can't control whether he goes comatose or not." The nurse addressed Finn. After a couple more comments and questions, the nurse took Burt and Carole to Kurt's room.

Using a few pillows he had left in the car, a couple chairs, and her blanket, Blaine made Rose a make shift bed. Within a couple minutes she was fast asleep. Blaine turned to Rachel and Finn. "How are you two holding up?" he asked.

"Okay." Rachel said. "We're worried, of course, but Kurt's a fighter. He'll be okay."

Finn smiled. "I'm just afraid of how angry he'll be that his right hand is broken. No sketching for a while."

"The company should give him some time off, though." Rachel said. "He was in a serious car accident."

"What exactly happened?" Blaine asked.

Rachel thought about it for a second before she told the story. Apparently he had been driving in the left lane, on his way to the airport, when someone tried to merge into the spot he was. He honked at first, but they ignored him. Since there was traffic he couldn't go into the right lane, and in a state of panic (or so they assumed) he slammed on this brakes and jerked the wheel left, crashing into the concrete divider. Because of the traffic and the fact that he had just slammed on his brakes, he only hit the wall at about thirty-three to thirty-five miles an hour, but when his airbag didn't activate he hit his head on the steering wheel.

"And no one at the scene would admit to being the car that ran him off the road. So either someone was lying or the car kept driving." Rachel said.

"Didn't anyone see it?" Blaine asked.

Finn shrugged. "Yeah, that's how we know what happened. But no one remembers anything about the car that cut Kurt off; they paid more attention to him hitting the wall."

Blaine was about to ask another question when Carole walked out. "Do you guys want to come in? He's still in a coma so it's not too interesting, but at least you can see he's alright."

Rachel took the sleeping baby out of Finn's arms. "You boys go. I'll stay out here with Levi and Rose."

Finn and Blaine nodded as they followed Carole down the hall. They entered the room to see Burt talking to a doctor, and Kurt on a hospital bed. Blaine was immediately at his side, scanning over him, identifying every scratch and bruise. He looked so small and weak hooked up to all the machines. Blaine tried to hold back his tears, but knew it was no use.

"There's lots of brain activity," the doctor was telling Burt, "so brain damage doesn't seem to be an issue. It's just a matter of when his knock to the head allows him to wake up."

"But with a concussion, isn't there brain damage anyway?" Finn asked.

"Not necessarily." Blaine said, remembering this from his Anatomy class in college. "A concussion is just a bruise on the brain from hitting the skull, and damage depends on how hard you've hit, right?" Blaine asked the doctor.

"That's one way of putting it, yes. We're keeping an eye out for any permanent damage to the brain, but it seems as if Mr. Hummel will make a full recovery." The doctor said. After talking to Burt a few more minutes, he too left the room.

The four sat around Kurt's bed, waiting for any sign of improvement, for hours. The annoying beep of the heart monitor quickly became a steady beat of reassurance for Blaine, that Kurt was still okay and that his heart was still doing its best to keep him alive.

"Blaine, it's late." Carole said, checking her watch. It was three in the morning. "You and Rose have school tomorrow. Shouldn't you get home?"

"I'll call a substitute. It's just a couple hours anyway. Maybe Stephanie will take both classes tomorrow." Blaine commented. He called the other kindergarten teacher and left a message on her phone, explaining the situation. Eventually, Finn took Rachel and Levi home. Around four in the morning, Burt left too, claiming he had to sleep so he could go to work tomorrow. Carrie came in to tell Blaine she was taking Rose and Stitch to her house around four thirty, leaving only he, Carole, and the stream of nurses coming in to check Kurt's vitals.

They urged the two to leave, but Carole didn't want to leave the hospital in case something happened, and Blaine didn't want to leave Kurt. Blaine actually had a feeling that she was still there so he wouldn't have to leave-as a nurse who had been there for years, she would be less likely to be 'kicked out' when it got too late, and if he was with her...

"You two are really in love." Carole commented around six in the morning. The two had dozed here and there, but mostly were too anxious to sleep. Blaine shrugged. He had no idea what to say to that. "It's almost as if there's an invisible string connecting you two. Sometimes it's against your will and sometimes it's not, but it's always there. And no matter where you go, you always end up together again somehow."

"I guess." Blaine said. "But the circumstances seem to really suck." They were both fell silent and Blaine sighed. He and Kurt just seemed too different sometimes.

"He's going to be okay, you know." Carole assured. Blaine nodded and tried to believe her, but he'd lost too many people to completely believe Kurt would wake up and be one hundred percent fine.

The day passed in a blur. He had to go in for surgery around noon for his broken bones. Carole eventually convinced Blaine to eat something. "You're doing him no help by starving yourself, Blaine. You need to sleep, too. Do you want to end up on one of these hospital beds?"

Throughout the day Rachel, Finn, Levi, Burt, Hiram, Leroy, Carrie, and Rose came in to check on Kurt. Each time, they urged Blaine and Carole to head home and get some rest. After a while the two promised they would go home that night.

So they did, and they both found the other walking into the hospital by six thirty the next morning. When they walked in, Burt, who had been there all night, left to get breakfast and coffee.

"Why am I such a terrible person?" he asked, leaning on Carole's shoulder.

"You're not a terrible person." Carole said. "You're a wounded person, maybe, but not terrible."

Blaine snorted. "You didn't hear the things I said to Kurt in June." He said. "I am a terrible person."

Carole thought about this. "I've heard. And I heard all about the things he said back," she paused, "But you do love him."

Blaine shrugged. "I'm not sure I can help loving him. I don't think I'll ever stop." He paused. "I just don't want him to die before I apologize for the way I treated him."

"He's not going to die." Carole assured. "You can apologize the minute he wakes up. Or the minute you get here after he wakes up."

"I guess I can't help but feel bad, and I won't feel better until I talk to him." Blaine shrugged. "But he has to wake up first."

"He will." She said.

"I wish I could be so certain." Blaine sighed.

"As a nurse," Carole said, "I've seen my share of deaths—both unexpected and predictable. But I'm sure it's so much different when it's your own family and friends deaths. And you've seen too much of that, Blaine. Far too much."

Blaine mutely nodded. Carole put her arm around him and let him lean into her. "He'll be okay."

Blaine looked at her. "Yeah?"

"Yeah, and know what else?" she asked. Blaine looked at her, puzzled and she smiled at him. "You're going to be okay, too."

* * *

So my dad's doing a LOT better, so thanks to everyone for your messages and everything. It really meant a lot.

On another note, how sad (well, for me) is it that there are only three more weeks until this is over?


	24. Chapter 22

Hey guys! So I have to admit, I still haven't seen the new episode, because I was at a volleyball tournament from Wednesday until, well, now. So I'm going to do that very soon. Hopefully tonight before sleep. Anyway, I hope you like the new chapter, sorry it's a day late, and have a great week! :)  
BUT ANYTHING YOU MAY OR MAY NOT BE HOLDING AGAINST BLAINE DID NOT HAPPEN IN THIS STORY SO BREATHE PEOPLE (okay, so I might've accidentally seen a couple spoilers...)

* * *

**Chapter 22**

The next week was torturous for Blaine. During every class he would check his phone every couple minutes. After school, he and Rose would head over to the hospital. One of Kurt's family members was always there, and Blaine only wished he could do something, could do _anything_, to help Kurt.

Rose kept reminding him that, "Mr. Kurt isn't like mommy was. He's made it a whole week now, Daddy. He can't do anything but get better!" She _loved _bringing the books she was learning to read (albeit they were the "Spot likes to run. Sally likes to play," books) and would read them over and over to Kurt. Sometimes she would even sing to him, and tell him about her day at kindergarten, and the silly things that Stitch did.

But Rose was worried about Mr. Kurt _and_ her daddy. Mr. Kurt, on the one hand, wasn't talking and laughing like he usually did, and he kept on sleeping. But Daddy was the same way—without the sleeping part. That was something Rose was pretty sure Daddy _hadn't_ done very much of. In fact, he hadn't been eating much either.

But, despite being worried, all in all Rose was handling it much better than Blaine was handling it. He mostly sat in one of the chairs beside Kurt's bed and held his hand. Carrie had picked up Rose from the hospital earlier that day to take her out to get _real_ food for dinner and returned a couple hours later. After leaving Rose in the care of another nurse on break, Carrie walked to Kurt's room.

Blaine was sitting there, clutching Kurt's hand, and blankly staring at the wall. "Oh, Blaine." Carrie whispered sympathetically.

"If you've come to yell at me about neglecting you or Rose or whatever, save it." Blaine muttered. "I don't want to hear it."

Carrie softly sat down next to Blaine. "That's not what I'm here for. I promise."

Blaine tried to stop his eyes from tearing up, but he couldn't help it. "I'm sorry. I know I've been a really bad friend lately. I just…" he took a shuttering breath. "I can't help but be afraid something's going to happen to him. I don't know how I'd get through it, and I know that I can't do anything, especially not just sitting here, but I don't feel like I can leave. What if something happens while I'm gone? I can't live without him, Carrie, I just can't." Blaine shrugged. "It's stupid, I know."

Carrie pulled him into a hug. "It isn't stupid. I understand. I was the same way when my brother had his accident." She paused. "But I know Rose is really worried about you _and_ Kurt."

Blaine sighed. "I know. I just wish he'd wake up. It's been a week; why is he still in a coma?"

Carrie's eyes filled with tears as she shrugged. "I don't know, Blaine. His body just isn't ready to wake up."

Blaine sighed and stood up. He wiped away his tears and put on a semi smile. "I'm going to go take Rose home. Will you call me if anything happens while you're on shift?"

Carrie hesitated. "If I get the chance, I'll remind Burt or Carole to call you, okay?"

Blaine nodded. "Okay. Thank you."

He was walking out of Kurt's room and down the hall when he heard Burt, Carole, and Finn whispering. He knew he shouldn't, but he stopped just out of sight to listen.

"I talked to Kurt's insurance." Burt said, "it will cover most of what happened to the car but it doesn't cover well on hospital bills."

"Does Kurt have enough money to get it, when he wakes up?" Blaine heard Carole ask.

"Not really." Blaine imagined Burt shaking his head. "He could, but he'd either have to get a roommate or move back to Lima for a couple months."

"What about a loan or something?" Carole asked.

"I don't want him to have to do that." Burt sighed. "But I don't see what else we can do."

Carole sighed too. "How much do we have that we can use to help?"

"Yeah, don't you have some saved up from when you were senator, dad?" Finn asked.

"Finn, you know he gave most of that back to the state." Carole reminded.

"Oh yeah."

"Well," Burt said, "we'll figure something out eventually."

"I just wish he'd wake up." He heard Rachel whisper. She must've been quiet the whole conversation.

Blaine coughed to let them know he was walking towards them. "Hey guys." He said. He even sounded tired to himself. "I'm going to take Rose home. I'll see if we can stop by for a little bit tomorrow after school, but if something happens before then, will you call me?"

"Of course." Carole said. "As soon as we know anything we'll let you know."

Blaine nodded awkwardly. "Okay. Thank you. I guess I'll see you guys later." He walked out to where Rose was sitting on the ground with an off-shift nurse, playing tic-tac-toe.

"Hey Daddy!" she grinned when she saw him.

"Hey sweetheart. Are you ready to head home?" he asked. She nodded and grabbed her backpack. The two walked hand in hand until they got to the parking lot. Blaine picked Rose up and sat her on the hood of his car.

"Rosie, can we talk for a couple minutes?" he asked.

"Sure, Daddy." She said. "Is something wrong? Did something happen to Mr. Kurt?"

"No, Mr. Kurt is still sleeping." He said. "I wanted to say I'm sorry."

Rose looked up at him, confused. "Why? What did you do?"

Blaine smiled sadly. "I haven't been very fair to you." He said. "I was so worried about Mr. Kurt, I forgot to be a good Daddy."

Rose shook her head. "No you didn't! You've just been busy. I understand."

"I know you understand honey, but you shouldn't have to. I shouldn't let myself worry so much about him that I forget to worry about you." Blaine kneeled down. "I'm going to try harder to not let my worrying get in the way of being your daddy, okay?"

Rose smiled and jumped off the hood of the car, attacking her father in a hug. "Okay, Daddy. But if you mess up, it's okay. I'm worried about Mr. Kurt, too."

Blaine smiled and hugged her back. "Alright, Rosie. Let's go home."

* * *

Another week passed. Kurt had been unconscious for almost two weeks, and Blaine couldn't figure out why he wasn't waking up. The waiting was driving him insane, and the worrying was nearly unbearable. He, of course, was hiding it a lot better and spending a little less time at the hospital, but it was still eating him from the inside out.

One particular day, while Rose was at a birthday party for someone in her class, Blaine was at the hospital. The party wasn't supposed to be over for another two hours, and he figured he might as well spend them with Kurt. Even if he was still comatose.

He had been sitting there for almost a half hour when Carole came in. She and Carrie were the two people he couldn't hide from. Maybe it was that they were nurses and were naturally sweet, but he almost didn't _want_ to hide from them.

"How's he doing, honey?" she asked.

"The same as always." Blaine sighed. "I wish something, _anything_, would change. Just to prove that Kurt's still in there and still fighting."

"I think the coma is his body's way of fighting." Carole commented. "Nothing's gotten worse."

"Nothing's gotten better, either." Blaine muttered.

Carole laughed. "That's true, but it will. You know it will, Blaine."

He nodded "Yeah, I know. I'm still concerned though. I just want it to get better now." He whined. "I've never been good at waiting."

"Then do something besides just sitting here." Carole suggested.

"Like what?" Blaine asked.

"I don't know," Carole said, "Read to him, sing to him, talk to him. Tell him what's going on. Tell him you're worried. Tell him you want him to wake up."

Blaine shrugged. "I'm not optimistic enough to believe he can't hear me anyway."

Carole shrugged. "I wouldn't be too sure about that. But it's worth a try."

The two of them were silent for another minute or so, while they just sat there and watched his chest rise and fall. Suddenly, the silence was too much for Blaine to take.

"You can't do this." Blaine whispered. "This isn't fair, Kurt. You have your whole life ahead of you. You have to wake up." He vaguely felt Carole rubbing his back soothingly. "I _need_ you Kurt. I," Blaine paused. "I still love you. I've never stopped, not since the beginning."

He smiled ironically. "The moment I saw you on that staircase, when I was fifteen, I thought you were the most beautiful and perfect person I've ever seen in my life. I immediately wanted to get to know you more. Maybe that's why I sang _Teenage _Dream to you; I wanted to get _you_ interested in me." Blaine sighed and squeezed his eyes shut and choked out, "And then you were." He paused again. "And I couldn't believe it. It took me longer than it should have to get my act together, but then I did, and I had the best couple years of my life. And even then, even after everything that happened between us, I couldn't make myself stop loving you.

"I've never looked at another person the same way I've ever looked at you, and I've tried, Kurt. I just can't love anybody except you. And no matter how many guys asked me out, no matter how many friends offered to set me up, I couldn't do it." He stopped and took a deep breath. "I knew I couldn't take a piece of someone else's heart when mine wholly belonged to you. And it _still_ belongs to you."

He bit the corner of his lower lip and looked at Kurt's sleeping face, "I lost my parents when I was eighteen, and I lost everything I knew later that year. I lost all sense of security, my house, my life, everything. When I was twenty I thought I'd gotten it all back together. I was doing well in school and on my way to be a teacher. Hell, I'd even gotten myself a new best friend. And then I lost that too. But Kurt, you've been the one constant in my life. Whether you were there or not, you've never been out of my thoughts," Blaine's voice cracked. "Or my heart. Everyone, whether it's on purpose or not… Everyone leaves me." Blaine took a deep breath and watched as his tears fell on his and Kurt's hands. "You said you want me to find someone who will adore me, and love me, and be there for me, and treasure me, and love Rose. But Kurt, honey, you _are_ that person. You are the one that I'm supposed to be with-that I _need_ to be with. I...I lost you when I was seventeen, and I lost you again this summer. Kurt, I just got you back. Please don't make me loose you again."

It was too much. Blaine couldn't sit here another second with Kurt unconscious and Carole being so sweet and all of his feelings overwhelming him. He stood up to walk out of the hospital room. He needed to get out and get some air. He paused at the door, trying to keep his emotions form catching up with him.

That was when he heard Carole's soft voice, "Blaine."

* * *

Kurt wasn't sure what was going on. All he knew was that he was really tired, and his limbs felt really heavy, and was this what death felt like? He vaguely remembered talking to Blaine before giving Rose her puppy before crying to his dad before driving to the airport, and someone making him run off the road, and then something about hitting the concrete divider...? Kurt wasn't sure-everything was fuzzy. He heard the beeping of monitors and voices talking, but he didn't register what the sounds or words meant.

"How's he doing, honey?"

"The same as always. I wish something, _anything_, would change. Just to prove that Kurt's still in there and still fighting."

Kurt knew those voices, and he knew that they were both people who were incredibly important to him. Kurt strained his mind to comprehend what they were saying.

"I think the coma is his body's way of fighting. Nothing's gotten worse."

"Nothing's gotten better, either."

"That's true, but it will. You know it will, Blaine."

'_Blaine._' Kurt realized, '_And it's Carole he's talking to!"_

"Yeah, I know. I'm still concerned though. I just want it to get better now. I've never been good at waiting."

"Then do something besides just sitting here."

"Like what?"

Kurt strained his mind, as hard as he could, to understand what they were saying

"I don't know. Read to him, sing to him, talk to him. Tell him what's going on. Tell him you're worried. Tell him you want him to wake up."

"I'm not optimistic enough to believe he can't hear me anyway."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that. But it's worth a try."

Kurt fought his body's need for more sleep. He tried to move his arms or legs, he tried to open his eyes, he tried to open his mouth, but found his body just didn't want to do what he wanted it to. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Kurt registered silence-minus the hospital monitors-before Blaine started talking again.

"You can't do this. This isn't fair, Kurt. You have your whole life ahead of you. You have to wake up. I _need_ you Kurt. I," there was a pause. "I still love you. I've never stopped."

Kurt felt someone-Blaine?-squeezing his hand. Kurt tried his hardest to squeeze back, but found he still couldn't. In a moment of panic, he thought he was paralyzed, but calmed himself down by reminding him that he could feel Blaine's hand in his, and tried to focus back on Blaine's words. "The moment I saw you on that staircase, when I was fifteen, I thought you were the most beautiful and perfect person I've ever seen in my life. I immediately wanted to get to know you more. Maybe that's why I sang _Teenage Dream_ to you; I wanted to get _you _interested in me."

It was in-and-out, Blaine's words, but Kurt was hearing enough.

"I knew I couldn't take a piece of someone else's heart when mine wholly belonged to you. And it _still_belongs to you. I lost my parents when I was eighteen, and I lost everything I knew later that year. I lost all sense of security, my house, my life, everything. When I was twenty I thought I'd gotten it all back together. I was doing well in school and on my way to be a teacher. Hell, I'd even gotten myself a new best friend. And then I lost that too. But Kurt, you've been the one constant in my life. Whether you were there or not, you've never been out of my thoughts," there was another pause, "Or my heart. Everyone, whether it's on purpose or not… Everyone leaves me."

Kurt knew he needed to wake up. He needed to tell Blaine that he would never leave him again, that if he could just open his damn eyes and mouth he'd be his forever. "You are the one that I'm supposed to be with," Kurt heard, "That I _need _to be with. I...I lost you when I was seventeen, and I lost you again this summer. Kurt, I just got you back. Please don't make me loose you again."

Abruptly, Kurt felt Blaine's hand leave his. He tried to call out 'no,' (hey, his mouth was moving) but still couldn't make noise. But Kurt finally-_finally_- got his eyes to open slightly. He couldn't make noise, but thought that if he mouthed Blaine's name enough, someone would notice and then Blaine would come back and-

"Blaine." he heard Carole say softly. Kurt smiled softly as he saw Blaine turn around, though his still half-closed eyes.

"Oh my god." Blaine whispered, immediately back at Kurt's side. "Oh my god oh my god oh my god, Kurt. Kurt, baby, are you okay?"

Kurt blinked his eyes a couple times before shakily nodding his head. "M'fine," he said, but found his voice was very much gone.

"Take it easy, honey." Carole smiled, "you've been out for quite a while."

Kurt must've looked confused because Blaine muttered, "two weeks." Kurt attempted another nod.

"I'm going to go get your nurse and father, alright? And Rachel, Finn, Levi, Rose, and Carrie will want to know you're awake." Carole stood up and headed out the door.

"I'm sorry." Kurt choked out.

"Shhh, Kurt, no. Don't be sorry-just get better honey." Blaine said.

"But," Kurt insisted.

"Look, what I said a couple minuted ago, about always loving you and you always being a part of me, I wasn't kidding. Focus on getting out of the hospital, and there will be _years _for apologies."

Kurt smiled softly. "Promise?"

Blaine grinned in return, laying a soft kiss on Kurt's forehead. "I promise.

* * *

A couple weeks later, Kurt and Blaine were driving through the streets of Lima, loosely holding hands, somewhere between friends and boyfriends. They both knew they wanted more, but were moving forward carefully, since it had crashed and burned twice before.

"How are you feeling?" Blaine asked, looking at Kurt in the corner of his eye.

"Okay." Kurt said, "a little tired. Sick of my wheelchair. Sick of being carried when I'm not in it."

Blaine laughed. "Just wait. Your wrist and ribs and leg will heal soon enough."

"Soon maybe," Kurt muttered, "but not soon enough."

"Hey, just be glad you're okay. That asshole could've killed you!" Blaine said, failing at hiding the fact that he was upset.

"Hey, hey, hey," Kurt whispered, "it's okay. I'm okay. He could've killed me, but he didn't. And I'm going to get better, Blaine. It might take a while, and it might be frustrating, but it's going to happen."

Blaine nodded, but was still quite upset. "So my dad and I went into the hospital, and they told him that some anonymous guy came in and paid a lot of money on my medical bills." Kurt commented.

Blaine raised his eyebrows. "Really?"

"Yeah." Kurt said. "Like, they paid for nearly two-thirds of it. And the bills were not cheap."

Blaine nodded and kept his eyes on the road. "That's really cool. I wonder who would do that?"

"Yeah." Kurt snorted. "I wonder."

Blaine tried to keep a straight face, but he knew he couldn't effectively lie to Kurt. He ended up cracking a smile before going back to his straight and curious face.

"I wonder who it is." Kurt mused. "He's obviously rich. I bet he got a really good inheritance or something. And I bet he's young, and insanely handsome."

Blaine just nodded and tried not to laugh.

Kurt grinned. "And I bet he have the cutest daughter. Who loves him to death."

"Now where would you get that idea?" Blaine commented. "And how do you know it's not a girl? What if some pretty girl saw the accident in the news and fell in love with you?"

Kurt snorted. "I suppose. But not likely." Blaine just kept staring ahead of him in the road. "Blaine, I'm not stupid. I know it was you."

Blaine laughed. "You can't prove that."

Kurt smiled softly and leaned over to kiss Blaine on the cheek. "Thank you."

Blaine just kept smiling.


	25. Chapter 23

Welp. This is "the longest chapter of the story because it's the end and I have to tie up loose ends and stuff" because it's the last chapter, except for the epilogue next week!

* * *

**Chapter 23**

"We'll have to talk about this sometime," Kurt insisted, failing adorably at looking mad while sitting in a wheelchair in the Hummel's living room.

"And we will. But I told you, we have years." Blaine pointed out.

"Yeah, but the sooner we get the crap over with, the sooner we can go back to being that disgustingly adorable couple we were in high school." Kurt grumbled.

Blaine smiled before sighing. Kurt was right, and they had an empty house to themselves for the next hour or so. "Okay," he whispered at last, "But before you say anything, I want you to know that I'm not upset or mad about anything, and that I've already forgiven you for anything you could possibly apologize over. And that I am one hundred percent and completely in love with you and nothing you say now or ever could ever change that."

Kurt smiled shyly before looking up at Blaine. "Okay, but we still need to talk through everything if we're going to make this work. We've crashed and burned twice, and I'm not willing to risk that again." Blaine nodded and they stood there, staring at each other awkwardly for a moment before Kurt spoke up again, "Could you, by any change, help me onto the couch?"

"I don't know, you're pretty cute sitting in your chair." Blaine teased as he helped Kurt up.

"Don't make me come over there," Kurt grumbled, making Blaine burst into laughter. As soon as they were sitting (well, Kurt was more half-laying down, but Blaine was sitting) and facing each other, an awkward silence fell over them.

"So," Blaine said, "how do you want to start this?"

Kurt shrugged and they were both silent for a while before Kurt blurted out, "I'm sorry!" Blaine was taken aback by the outburst, but didn't get a word in before Kurt continued. "I'm sorry for everything. I know I've said is a thousand times, but I'm sorry for leaving you back then, and I'm sorry for cheating on you, and I'm sorry for being responsible for the bullying you had to go through your senior year, and I'm sorry for not being there for you when you needed someone most, and I'm sorry for coming back and screwing everything up, I'm sorry for breaking your heart a second time, I'm sorry for saying that you were a terrible father. I'm sorry for saying Rose doesn't deserve you." Kurt's voice broke. Blaine wanted to comfort him, but didn't know what to do that wouldn't hurt him more than he already was. Kurt turned his tearful eyes towards Blaine's concerned ones.

"That was probably one of the worst things I could say, and definitely one of the most untruthful. You and Rose are perfect for each other, and she deserves to have a father as amazing as you. The world screws around with everyone, but someone who was screwed up so badly, and who didn't let it get in their way of living is an incredible inspiration to everyone who knows them. And being the child of that person is the best thing for anyone. You're not broken, you're not stuck in the past, you're not anything I said. It's incredible how you've been able to move on, and how you've been able to raise such a wonderful little girl, and how you've touched so many lives through it all."

Kurt looked at Blaine and sighed, shrugging slightly. "I'm just, I'm really sorry."

Blaine gave him a half smiled. "I got my share of ugly words out, too."

"But not like I di-" Kurt started.

"Maybe not," Blaine mused, "but no one ever has a right to say hurtful things. And while appreciate you saying it's false, I have been stuck in the past. And you can't raise a child on love and inspiration alone. I haven't always been there for her like I should have, I told you the Grand Canyon story." Kurt shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He hated thinking about that. "And she's magically turned out okay so far. But you don't have to apologize for the truth."

"But it wasn't the truth." Kurt insisted.

Blaine smiled ironically. "We'll have to agree to disagree on that one. But thank you anyway." They were both quiet, staring at their hands for a while. "You need to stop blaming yourself for everything." Blaine said at last.

"And so do you," Kurt replied, smiling faintly.

Blaine shrugged, but smiled timidly. "Maybe. But I'm sorry too, you know." Blaine said. "And not just for what I said in June-though I hope you know that I don't think you're a whore." Kurt laughed. "I'm sorry for blaming everything on you, when you really didn't do anything. I mean, I never said anything about it to you, but I guess I count that Christmas as 'the beginning of everything sucking,'"

"Which it was," Kurt interrupted.

Blaine laughed. "Still, that doesn't make it your fault. And while I have been blaming myself for everything, I guess I've been blaming you for everything, too. Like a joint blame. But it's not like you made their plane go down."

"And neither did you," Kurt said quickly.

"No, I didn't. It's just one of those things that no one really has control over, and it sucks, but the world sucks and life sucks, and I have absolutely no reason to blame you or me for it." And suddenly the resentment he'd been feeling toward Kurt—resentment he hadn't really known existed—evaporated. "And that I need to move on," he said suddenly.

"But moving on isn't the same as forgetting," Kurt said quickly, "It's okay to know that your grandparents and parents and sister and Jayden all died too young, but that doesn't mean you can't remember the good times and admit that bad things affect you, but without taking over your whole life."

Blaine smiled up at Kurt and leaned forward to kiss him. "I love you."

Kurt giggled. "I love you, too."

* * *

The next three months weren't easy by any means. Kurt had to go back home to New York for work, and Blaine had to stay in Lima at ELA. Even Rachel and Finn had found an apartment just outside Oceanside so they could still live near New York City but Levi wouldn't have to grow up directly inside the city.

But Kurt and Blaine made it work. Sometimes Blaine and Rose would make it up to New York for a weekend and other times Kurt would get to Lima for a few days. Rose loved flying in an airplane and seeing New York City, but she loved seeing 'Mr. Kurt' even more. Blaine started becoming friends with Kurt's coworkers and college friends. The more time Blaine spent in New York, the more he realized it was where he wanted to be.

But he couldn't tell if that was the city or the person who lived in it.

And everything seemed to be going, not perfectly, but better. Like everything was okay, and was going to be okay, and there were going to be bad things happening and there were going to be arguments and disagreements and Rose would throw temper tantrums and Stich would chew up half the living room furniture, but each bad thing wasn't 'added on' to the other bad things that had happened to Blaine. Every day was new and every bad thing that happened wasn't the end of the world.

And everyone noticed. While his students had always loved him, they commented that he was much happier than they'd ever seen him. Carrie said that he was smiling a lot more, even counting when he and Kurt had been dating the second time. And while Kurt wouldn't hear any of it, Blaine thought that it really was that he needed to grow up, just like Kurt had said. Blaine wasn't feeling like an eighteen-year-old wearing adult clothes doing adult things, like he'd told Mr. Schue, but he was actually an adult. And, he decided, that was what partly what was wrong with his and Kurt's past two tries at a relationship. Blaine had just needed a couple years to grow up.

And Kurt was, by no means, going to let Blaine take all the blame like he intended. In fact, if it had been up to Kurt (and secretly Finn and Burt and Carole, and not-so-secretly Rachel), Blaine would be getting none of the blame. Kurt had seriously told Blaine many times that Blaine hadn't needed to grow up, he needed to move on, and that it was Kurt who needed to grow up. They both took Blaine's disagreement as a sign that, this time, everything was going to be okay.

December rolled around and everyone agreed to go to New York for Christmas. As Kurt promised, he took Rose out just the two of them for dinner and Christmas shopping. She came home babbling about it excitedly. On Christmas Eve, without telling Blaine, Kurt took Rose to Rachel and Finn's house for the evening. After telling Blaine to dress up because they were going out for the evening, Kurt disappeared for a couple hours.

Kurt was finishing the tea that Rachel had given him when he walked over to where Rose was playing on the ground with Levi. "Hey, Rosie can I talk to you?" Kurt asked softly.

Rose nodded happily and followed him out of the living room and into the kitchen. "What is it, Mr. Kurt?" she asked.

Kurt set his crutches on the kitchen table and sat in one of the chairs. He pulled a chair out that was facing him and Rose, sensing what he wanted, sat down in it. "Is everything okay?" She asked.

Kurt nodded. "Yeah, everything's good. I just wanted to talk to you about something."

"Nothing bad?" Rose asked hesitantly.

"Nothing bad." Kurt smiled. "Rose, you know how I feel about your daddy, right?"

"You love him!" she said proudly. "And he loves you back an awful lot."

Kurt grinned. "And we love you so much, too." Rose beamed and nodded. Kurt went on. "You know how Rachel and Finn, and my parents Burt and Carole, and your grandparents, and your friends' parents are all married?"

"Yup!" Rose said.

"And you know what marriage is, right?" Kurt asked.

Rose bit her lower lip indecisively. "I'm not completely sure." she said at last.

"When two people really love each other, and they don't want to ever be apart from each other, they get married and move in together, and then they share all their stuff. A lot of people do that without being married, though." Kurt said, "but getting married is the legal part of it."

Rose nodded, understanding the married part, but not really what it had to do with laws and stuff.

"You know I love your daddy so much, and that I don't ever want to be away from him," Kurt said and Rose nodded. "And I want us to live together-you, me, and your daddy-and share everything and be a family."

Rose's eyes lit up at the word 'family.' That was something she definitely understood. "You mean you want to be a part of daddy's and my little family?"

Kurt smiled. "Yeah, I do. I love you both so much, and I hate living so far away from you guys."

"So are you and daddy going to get married?" Rose asked.

"I want to ask your daddy to marry me." Kurt said simply, "But I wanted to make sure you were okay with it first, because it would effect your life too."

"Would that mean daddy and I could move here to New York?" She exclaimed.

Kurt laughed. "Maybe, we'd have to decide that all together."

"As a family?" Rose beamed.

"As a family." Kurt replied. "Anyway, when people propose to get married, they usually buy the person they're asking to marry them a ring. But I'm not just asking Blaine to marry me, I'm asking you to let me into your family, too."

"But I already see you as part of my family." Rose said softly.

Kurt held back his tears as he opened his arms wide, motioning Rose to come over. She crawled into his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I know, sweetie, and I consider you already my family."

"So what's the problem?" Rose asked.

Kurt smiled. "There isn't one." He pulled out a jewelry box. Opening it, Rose saw a silver ring with a light pink stone on top. It was on a silver chain. Kurt put it around her neck and fastened the clasp. "Rose, will you let me become part of your family?"

Rose hugged him even tighter. "I told you," she smiled, burying her face into his neck, "You already are."

* * *

When Kurt returned to his apartment, Blaine was dressed up (as instructed) and reading on the couch. Kurt walked over to Blaine and silently took his hand. Together they walked downstairs and Blaine found there was a horse-drawn carriage waiting for the two of them. Blaine laughed as Kurt urged him inside. After handing Blaine his crutches, Kurt climbed in after him.

After taking them on an hour long ride through a snowy New York, it dropped them off at a restaurant that Kurt had been promising Blaine he would take him to. They walked inside and there was a quiet table in the back waiting for them. After leaving the room for a couple minutes, Kurt came back with a bouquet of yellow and pink roses. Blaine wasn't sure if he should laugh or cry at the gesture, so he did both.

Kurt laughed with him and kissed him on the cheek.

"Kurt?" Blaine asked.

"Yeah?" Kurt replied, staring across the table at Blaine.

Blaine stared at Kurt for a moment. "I just really, really love you." He whispered.

Kurt laughed. "I know. I love you too." He smiled softly, "It's weird to think that ten years ago, we were singing 'Baby it's Cold Outside' in the Dalton library."

"And nine years ago we were singing 'Let It Snow' on Artie's TV Christmas special," Blaine added.

"And also nine years ago, I thought I was ready to marry you," Kurt giggled.

"With a gum-ring!" Blaine added.

Kurt rolled his eyes. "And eight years ago you really were planning on marrying me, and then I ruined it all."

"And then came back six years later and fixed everything." Blaine said softly.

Kurt laughed. "After I made it worse!"

The two ate their dinner and talked and laughed. After, Kurt and Blaine walked out to see a cab already waiting. "It's a pain to get a cab with crutches, so I called ahead." He explained.  
They climbed in and when Blaine was about to tell them Kurt's address, Kurt told them to head to Central Park.

"Why are we going to Central Park, may I ask?" Blaine asked, but he was hiding a smile.

Kurt shrugged. "I felt like going on a walk."

"It's snowing." Blaine pointed out.

"Irrelevant." Kurt said, giggling. Blaine rolled his eyes and helped Kurt out of the taxi when they got to Central Park. Hand in hand, the two boys made their way down the snowy paths.

"So, I was talking to Rachel a couple weeks ago." Kurt said.

Blaine laughed. "I'm sure you were. You and Rachel seem to talk a lot. That's what, you know, friends do." He teased.

"Shut up!" Kurt laughed. "We were talking about you."

"Oh." Blaine said. "I suppose that could be different, then."

Kurt smiled. "We were talking about how I've probably permanently ruined Christmas and that one park for you."

Blaine laughed. "The park? Probably. Christmas? Less likely."

"Well," Kurt said, stopping. "I want to make it up to you. Christmas and the park." Blaine raised an eyebrow at Kurt, intrigued. Kurt took a deep breath and smiled.

"At work a couple weeks ago, some people were talking about regrets, about the one thing they wish they could redo. I thought about it and was surprised it didn't come to me sooner. If I had a time machine, I'd go back to my freshman year of college and yell at my stupid nineteen year old self for giving you up." Blaine opened his mouth to speak, but Kurt shook his head.

"The day I stopped you on that staircase, now over ten years ago, was the best day of my life. It was the day that opened me up to being who I truly was. It opened me up to what in life truly matters, and it opened me up to being in love. It was my window to really living. And it's all because of you. I heard my dad talking to you after his heart scare. He said that you were the best thing that ever happened to me, even if I'd forgotten. He's right, you know." Kurt shrugged. "You're the best thing that has ever happened to me."

He smiled and put his hands in his pockets. "So I thought about how I could make up parks and Christmas to you. So here it is, Christmas eve, and we're in a park. Central Park, not the park in Lima, but a park nonetheless." Blaine smiled and kept listening.

"My doctor says I'm still not allowed to kneel, because of my leg, but I would it I could." Kurt pulled a box out of his pocket and looked into Blaine's. "I love you so much, more than anything, more than most people would consider sane. But I do. And we've proved in the past that we'll argue and disagree and yell at each other and hate each other, but we love each other so nothing else matters."

Kurt opened the black velvet box to display a simple silver ring with three small diamonds on the top. "Blaine Anderson, will you marry me?"

Blaine couldn't figure out why everything was blurry until he realized he was crying. After he wiped away his tears, he saw that Kurt was crying as well. "Yes." Blaine whispered. "Yes, yes, yes." He put his arms around Kurt's waist and kissed him. "Yes." He said again. And then he and Kurt were laughing and crying all over again.

As they started to walk out of the park, Kurt stopped again. "Wait, I forgot something." He pulled another box out of his pocket. This was another jewelry box. It looked worn, a couple years older. Blaine recognized it immediately.

"A long time ago, this really sweet guy bought me this engagement ring for my Christmas present. He wanted to marry me, but I decided to be an asshole and leave him. And I stayed away for nine years before I used my common sense and decided it was high time I married that boy." Kurt looked up at him hopefully. "I was wondering if I could wear it."

Blaine tried not to let himself cry again; this night was just too good to be true. Not trusting his voice, Blaine nodded. Kurt handed him the box and Blaine opened it, sliding the ring on his finger. "I love you. It's not enough to convey what I'm feeling, but it'll have to do."

Kurt smiled. "I love you, too."

* * *

Blaine laughed when he found out that, while taking Rose to Rachel and Finn's house, Kurt had 'proposed' to her, too. He even bought her a ring and asked her if he could marry her father. Christmas morning was a very memorable event. Rose couldn't stop talking about her ring and her Daddy's ring, and Mr. Kurt's ring, and how they were going to be a family.**  
**

The months went by quickly between work and wedding planning. The two were married on a beautiful late June morning. Everyone was there—Kurt's family, Blaine's aunt, uncle, and cousins, Kurt's coworkers, Blaine's students and coworkers, Cooper, Carrie (who seemed to hit it off quite nicely, despite Blaine's teasing about their eleven year age gap), Anna, Sara, everyone.

Rose was extremely excited when she saw her flower girl dress. It was supposed to be a quiet and small affair, but with as many people who cared about the two boys, they soon realized it was impossible. They had briefly argued whether to have it in Ohio or New York. Blaine knew less people would come if it was in New York and it would be as small as they had wanted it, but Kurt wanted everyone who wanted to be there to be able to. Blaine ended up relenting and they had the wedding in Lima.

Kurt had been in charge of most of it, per his request, but asked Blaine his opinion on most things (whether he listened to said opinion or not was irrelevant). The morning of, Blaine had to admit Kurt had done a wonderful job, and maybe he should've become a wedding planner. He was pulled out of his thoughts when Rachel came to tell him the wedding was starting.

The wedding and reception seemed to go extremely quickly, and soon he and Kurt were married. After leaving Rose with Carrie, the two set off to Catalina Island, off the southern California coast, for their six day honeymoon. They came home to a very excited almost-six-year-old.

"Daddy! Mr. Kurt! You're back!" she exclaimed, giving them both huge hugs.

"Yeah, we are!" Blaine laughed. "Rosie, we want to talk to you about something, okay?"

She nodded. "Okay." The two walked down the street until they found a small picnic table outside a dog park. They sat down with Blaine next to Rose and Kurt across from them.

"You know what married is, right?" Blaine said.

"Yeah! Mr. Kurt explained it to me," Rose nodded. "You two are married. Riley's mommy and daddy are married. It means that two people love each other a lot and don't want to be away from each other. That's why we're moving to New York."

Both adults nodded. "So now that Kurt and I are married, he's your step-dad." Blaine then explained what 'step-dad' meant. "But we were wondering if you wanted to make Kurt your real daddy."

Rose's eyes widened in worry. "Do you not want to be my real daddy anymore?"

"No Rosie, that's not it. Of course I want to be your daddy. I love being your daddy." Blaine said. Rose's confused look returned, but at least the sad look was off her face. "Riley has a mommy and a daddy, right?" Rose nodded. "Since I married a boy and not a girl, you can have two daddies. But only if you want to."

Rose's face turned from confusion to excitement. "Really? I can have two daddies?"

"Yes, you can." Kurt said. "But I don't want you to think I have to be your dad. It's okay if you don't want me to."

"I do! I do!" Rose insisted. Then her eyes widened. "But what will I call you? I mean, Daddy is already 'Daddy.' What would you be?"

Kurt shrugged. "Whatever you want me to be."

"To have Kurt be your real dad, then we have to have him adopt you." Blaine explained. "It just means that we'll have to go to a big courthouse and sign a bunch of papers."

"And then I'll have two daddies?" Rose asked.

"And then you'll have two daddies." Blaine replied, kissing her on the cheek.

Rosie grinned. "Good. Because I love you both. An awful lot."

Kurt smiled. "We love you an awful lot, too."

* * *

It was the day they were set to move. They finished loading the boxes into the cars (because the drive from Lima to New York wasn't that bad, and they were stopping somewhere in Pennsylvania anyway) and had begun to drive. Kurt, Blaine, and Rose were in Blaine's car and Finn, Rachel, and Levi were in a moving car.

A couple hours into the drive, Blaine's phone started ringing. "Hello, this is Blaine Anderson speaking." he said absentmindedly.  
Kurt tried to hear the conversation, but wasn't entirely sure what the person on the other line was saying.

"But I didn't send anything in." He paused and Kurt continued to try to hear. "Yes, I'll be in town then." More talking on the other line. "Alright, I guess I'll see you then." Another pause. "Thursday night at seven? Okay. I will be there." He smiled. "Alright, good bye."

Blaine hung up his phone and looked confused. "Huh."

"Who was that?" Kurt asked.

"A private school in New York." Blaine said. "Apparently someone from my old school called in and told them that I was moving to New York, and that if I didn't send in anything, they should call me. They've never even talked to me and they want me to come in for an interview."

Kurt laughed. "Wow. What's the job for?"

"History and Glee club. Exactly what I was doing in Lima, minus kindergarten." Blaine said. "This is so weird."

"Are you going to go in for the interview?" Kurt asked.

"Yeah, why not?" Blaine shrugged. "I mean, usually private schools have all the teachers for the next year hired by now, and I was going to just take a year off, maybe work at a preschool or something, but if they're still looking for a teacher it probably means that they probably can't find anyone else."

Kurt nodded. "Do you want the job? You were talking about going full-time kindergarten."  
Blaine shrugged and looked at the floor of his car. "I thought it would be easier to find. I'm not sure what I would rather do." He paused. "I guess I could take it, and if I hate it after a year try to find another job."

Kurt shrugged. "Whatever you want to do." There were a couple minutes of silence before Kurt spoke up again. "You were always set on being a performer in high school. What happened?"

Blaine shrugged and thought about it. "I guess it just didn't feel right anymore. I still love singing and dancing, but it just seemed so unimportant compared to everything that had happened. And then I decided, somewhere in the back of my mind, that I wanted to make a difference in people's lives, and in kid's lives. That if I was going to make myself live through hell, I might as well use it for something."

Kurt smiled and kissed Blaine on his cheek. The next evening, the group arrived at Kurt's apartment in New York, and two weeks after that Blaine got a call asking him if he would accept the teaching position he had interviewed for. Kurt, Blaine, and Rose found a school for Rose a couple days later.

One night Kurt and Rose had fallen asleep on the couch while watching a movie. Blaine looked down at them, finally feeling as if everything was perfect—complete. He suddenly remembered the conversation he'd had with Abby the Christmas eve that seemed like a lifetime ago.

_"Well do you love him?"_

_"Yeah, I do."_

_"Then it will all be okay. I know it."_

* * *

So I hope you like/have liked it, and I'll see you next week for the END end, and maybe talk about something else I've been working on, but lost when my computer crashed, and am currently deciding if it's worth rewriting. Blegh. Well, we'll see. Love you all!


	26. Epilogue

**Epilogue**_  
_

_Eleven years later_

It was a warm and sunny day in late May. Blaine stood in front of the sink by their front window and stared. In fact, he had been there for quite a few minutes, just staring.

"Honey, glaring at the window isn't going to make her come home any sooner." Kurt giggled, holding the door open as their nine year old son, Tristan, walked in with his hands full of a model solar system.

Blaine turned away from the window to grin at the Kurt look-alike in front of him. "Hey buddy, how did your report go?"

Tristan smiled widely. "It went good."

"Well." Kurt corrected.

Tristan rolled his eyes. "Well." He said, "It went well."

Blaine smiled and ruffled his hair. "It looks amazing. Great job, kid." Tristan grinned again before running off to his bedroom to drop off his backpack and project. Blaine turned back to the window.

Kurt giggled and wrapped his arms around his husband's waist, resting his chin on Blaine's shoulder. "A watched pot never boils." He teased.

"Good think Rose isn't a boiling pot then." Blaine muttered.

Kurt's musical laugh sounded again. "Come on, Blaine. Patience. Do you want to help me start dinner?"

Blaine turned in Kurt's arms so they were nose to nose (after Kurt tilted his head down, at least). "Why isn't she home yet?"

Since Rose was an upperclassman, she didn't have a class the last period of school every other day, and today was one of those days. "Does Justin have a last period class today?"

Blaine shrugged. "I don't know."

Kurt smirked. "You know he's coming over today."

Blaine shrug-nodded. "I do. That's why I'm concerned."

Kurt laughed as he started boiling water to make pasta, which Rose claimed was Justin's favorite. "How was work today?"

"Okay. Claire is finally opening up to me, and in turn she's actually learning now. Jacob is coming along as well, but it's talking a little bit longer. Meanwhile Conor and Denise are as amazing as ever, and I got a new girl today. Her name is Sierra. She's seriously the cutest thing I've ever seen, save Rosie and Tristan." Blaine explained.

Kurt was so incredibly glad that Blaine had found his niche in life—something that he finally felt was right. After Kurt's job had steadied out and Tristan was born, Blaine became a part-time stay-at-home dad, part-time student.

While taking history classes, Blaine had taken a few special education and psychology classes, and immediately fell in love with the idea of helping kids in a different way than he previously had. While he loved opening kindergarteners up to learning and re-interesting high schoolers into the same thing, there was something about working with kids that had gone through similar things as him.

Within the next few years, Blaine had a master's degree in special education, where he worked in a classroom with severely emotional scarred kids of all ages. He'd had kids who were abused, had watched their parents die, or so on. Many of his kids were foster kids, and he and Kurt had even taken in a few of his students for a couple months at a time.

"What about you? How was your day?" Blaine asked, pulling Kurt out of his string of thoughts.

"Pretty good. Really busy, though. But I got a few more designs picked up today. Greg told me he heard rumors about them wanting to help me start a whole new line, headed by me where I would be mostly independent but slightly helped by the company. While that would be amazing, it is Greg saying it, so I suppose we should take it with a grain of salt." Kurt said as he started making sauce for the pasta.

"Most of Greg's stories are based off some sort of truth, though. He just stretches it." Blaine said. "Maybe some big things are coming." Blaine said. Kurt grinned and kissed Blaine's cheek.

"Thanks, love." They were silent for a few minutes before Blaine spotted a couple walking up their driveway. Rose and her blonde-haired-blue-eyed almost-quasi-boyfriend walked through the door.

"Hi daddy, hi dad." Rose said, kissing each of them in turn. "Sorry I took so long. Justin has Physics last period on Tuesdays and Thursdays."

Blaine frowned. "Isn't physics a senior class at your school? I thought you were a junior, Justin."

Justin shifted his backpack uncomfortably. "I am, sir. But I got permission to take Physics this year so I can take Calculus at the community college next year."

Rose rolled her eyes and grabbed Justin's hand. "Dad, Daddy," she shot Blaine a slight warning look, "Justin and I are going outside to study for finals next week, okay? Will you call us when dinner's ready?"

Kurt grinned his crinkly-eyed smile that _always_ made Blaine turn to mush. "Of course, Rosie. Do you two want anything to drink?"

Rose looked at Justin expectantly, who shook his head and politely said no. Then the two of them headed to the back patio where Rose had her "study table" set up virtually 24/7. Even since they had moved to Southern California ten years prior (due to Blaine wanting to go back to school there and Kurt's company transferring him there), Rose had fallen in love with the nearly-always-summer weather and the cute suburb cities.

Blaine periodically checked on Rose and Justin, but they continued to listen to her outside stereo and study for their finals. "They're so much more boring than we were in high school. I feel like I should send your dad an apology card." Blaine muttered.

Kurt giggled. "They're not even officially dating yet. Give them time."

At the end of Kurt's comment, Tristan ran out and grabbed Blaine's arm. "Daddy, will you help me beat this level on my video game? I just can't get it." Blaine laughed and followed him off to his room.

Kurt saw Rose glance back towards the window and he winked at his daughter. She grinned and turned back to her studying. "I am going to fail this Chemistry test and fail out of high school and have to live with my dads forever and work at Burger King flipping burgers and pushing buttons on registers except even those people usually have high school diplomas so I'm going to end up like that homeless woman that sleeps under the bridge by your house and then die."

Justin laughed. "Stop being melodramatic, Rosie. It's not as bad as you think."

"Not as bad as I think, my ass." Rose muttered.

She glanced at the radio as it finished a recent pop song and the DJ announced, "This next song is a request, coming from quite a few years back."

_You think I'm pretty without any makeup on_

_You think I'm funny when I tell the punch line wrong_

_I know you get me, so I let my walls go down_

Rose started laughing.

"What is it?" Justin teased.

"This is my dads' song. Well, Daddy says it is, but Dad disagrees. He says that it's too pop and 'Top Forty' to be their song, but they did play it at their wedding, so I think Daddy's right." Rose closed her eyes and smiled softly to herself.

"I know all about you and your mom, but tell me about them-about your dads." Justin said quietly.

Rose grinned at him, her eyes misting over in a story that she'd heard a couple thousand times. "It all started when dad was sixteen and daddy was fifteen, and they were both in Glee club. When their schools went up against each other for competition, dad went to go spy on daddy's school…"

* * *

Well, that's it I guess...

Special thanks, one last time, to Carrie who A) let me accidentally steal her name (yes, it was a true accident-but a fitting one at that), B) beta-ing, obviously, C) naming half the random characters who are mentioned like, twice, and lastly D) listening to me whine and gripe every time I was stuck and offering ideas and just general support. Thank you to Itzel who, back in January didn't hate when I sent her chapter 9 (Christmas #2) with no explanation, and didn't kill me when I killed everyone in the whole freaking story even though that wasn't strictly the original plan, and who also edited for me, and was also there for general support and listened to me complain about everything.

I do have a couple ideas about new stories, but since my computer crashed halfway through this one, I lost a LOT of things-those things including the story I was working on AS WELL AS Microsoft Word (you try writing chapter-long stories in notepad)... But if you track me on here (which many of you do) or on my tumblr (ilymorethanorequal 2kurtnblaine (without the space cause this site is dumb)) then you'll definitely hear about it!

Thank you, you guys, for ever comment/review/message/like/follow/EVERYTHING. I'm not gonna lie, Thursday night I texted a bunch of my friends, being generally depressed that this is over. But you guys have made every sentence worth it!

*muah*


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